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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  MSaO 

(716)  872-4503 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiquas 


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Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notas  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


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tc 


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d  with  other  material/ 
svec  d'autres  documents 


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Encre  de  couleur  (i.e 

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Re!i^ 


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la  dernldre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

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dernldre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  seion  le 
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Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  §tre 
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de  i'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
dimages  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iiiustrent  ia  m6thode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

S 

8 

REPORT  OF  THE  SELECT  COMMITTEE 


or  THK 


<SiUw\>mt€firmmiiimmtd§m^m%, 


T 


ON  THB 


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ll 


EECIPROCITT  TREATY, 

AS  TO 

TRADE  SETWEEN  THE  BRITISH  NORTH  AMERI- 
CAN PROVINCES   AND  THE  UNITED 
STATES  OF  AMERICA. 

"WITH    A.I»I"ENI>IX. 


■JOHN   W.   AMERMAN,   PRINTER, 
No.  47  Cepab  Stbext. 

1865. 


I 

1 


I 


T 


•¥■ 


REPORT  OF  THE  SELECT  COMMITTEE 


or  THB 


(l\mitx  of  dommene  d  t|e  State  of  |itto-g0rk, 


ON  TBI 


RECIPROCITY  TREATY, 

AS    TO   TRADE    BETWEEN   THE    BRITISH   NORTH 

AMERICAN  PROVINCES  AND  THE  UNITED 

STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


The  Board  of  Trade  of  the  City  of  Montreal,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  present  year,  having  expressed  it3 
wish  to  this  Chamber  that  it  would  consider  and  report 
upon  the  existing  Reciprocity  Treaty,  under  the  stipula- 
tions of  which  the  present  commercial  intercourse  be- 
tween the  British  North  American  Provinces  and  the 
United  States  has  been  conducted  since  1854,  the  time 
when  it  came  into  operation,  this  Chamber  proceeded, 
in  conformity  with  such  wish,  to  the  consideration  of 
the  subject.  A  select  committee  was  accordingly 
raised  for  that  purpose,  and  has  been  engaged  for 
several  months  in  pursuing  the  preliminary  inquiries 
necessary  to  enable  it  to  present  the  present  report. 
The  materials  accumulated  in  such  quantities,  as  to  make 
a  proper  digestion  of  them  a  work  of  no  little  diffi- 


i 


4 


culty ;  but  it  is  hoped  it  has  arrived  at  such  results,  as 
to  enable  it  to  present  an  impartial  as  well  as  an  intel- 
ligible view  of  the  important  relations  which  have 
grown  up  and  expanded  for  the  last  ten  years  between 
this  country  and  those  American  Provinces. 

The  first  step  taken  by  the  committee  was  to  ascer- 
tain the  opinions  of  the  various  Boards  of  Trade  in 
the  principal  cities  most  directly  interested  in  the  ques- 
tion ;  and  accordingly  letters  of  inquiry,  prepared  un- 
der the  direction  of  this  committee,  were  addressed  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Chamber  to  the  following  Boards : 
to  that  of  Philadelphia,  of  Chicago,  Detroit,  Troy,  Bal- 
timore, Cleveland,  Buffalo,  Oswego,  Albany,  Portland, 
Bath,  in  Maine,  and  other  principal  cities. 

From  these,  answers  were,  in  part,  duly  received. 
The  Board  of  Trade  of  Philadelphia  replied,  that  it 
was  unanimously  in  favor  of  abrogating  the  present 
treaty,  believing  that  the  term  was  "  a  misnomer,"  the 
advantages  having  hitherto  been  altogether  in  favor  of 
Great  Britain ;  that  its  own  Secretary  was  engaged  by 
the  Treasury  Department  in  collating  the  statistics  of 
the  trade,  with  the  design  of  furnishing  data  for  the 
formation  of  a  new  treaty  that  may  be  just  and  equit- 
able to  both  nations,  and  that  the  ensuing  session  of 
Congress  would  be  able  to  undertake  a  "more  favor- 
able and  calm  discussion  of  the  subject." 

This  report  has  only  appeared  during  the  past  month ; 
and  it  was  essential  for  the  committee  to  examine  it,  in 
order  to  arrive  at  positive  conclusions  on  points  mate- 
rial to  the  subject. 

The  Board  of  Trade  at  Chicago  replied,  that  all  its 
members  regarded  the  matter  as  one  "of  great  import- 


I 


ance,"  but,  as  there  were  "  conflicting  views  respecting 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  the  treaty,"  it  pro- 
posed to  send  a  more  distinct  answer,  which  should 
"  correctly  reflect  the  views  of  the  Board."  The  com- 
mittee having  waited  for  some  months  for  that  com- 
munication, regrets  to  say  that  it  has  not  received  it ; 
since  an  expression  of  the  opinion  sought  for,  from  the 
commercial  representatives  of  one  of  our  greatest  and 
most  flourishing  lake  cities,  above  all  others  intimately 
connected  with  the  Canadian  trade,  would  have  had 
undoubted  weight,  and  have  been  considered  high  au- 
thority. 

The  Board  of  Trade  of  the  City  of  Troy  replied,  by 
enclosing  two  resolutions  in  the  following  words : 

"  Resolved^  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
of  Troy  be,  and  is  hereby  authorized  to  communicate  with 
the  New- York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  in  answer  to  a 
communication  received  from  such  Chamber,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  reciprocity  treaty  between  the  United 
States  and  Canada. 

"  Resolved  furth&r^  That  as  inhabitants  of  the  State 
of  New- York,  and  business  citizens  of  Troy,  we  are 
opposed  to  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty." 

This  letter  was  accompanied  by  a  report  of  a  meet- 
ing of  the  same  Board  of  Trade  held  to  consider  the 
subject,  in  consequence  of  the  communication  addressed 
to  it  by  this  committee,  and  an  elaborate  report  of 
the  conclusions  to  which  the  Board  of  Trade  had  ar- 
rived. This  report  contained  valuable  information, 
made  use  of  in  its  proper  place. 

The  Board  of  Trade  of  Baltimore  replied  that,  in 
their  opinion,  the  general  operations  of  the  treaty  have 


6 


been  beneficial  to  both  oountrieg,  and  they  would  much 
regret  to  see  it  abrogated.  They  expressed  the  opinion 
that,  "  some  modifications  and  changes  maybe  needed, 
better  to  adapt  it  to  the  requirements  of  the  trade  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  but  it  appeared  to  them" 
that  a  free  exchange  with  each  other  of  their  chief  pro- 
ducts is  very  desirable,  and  the  mutual  concessions 
granted  in  the  treaty,  of  the  free  navigation  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  Lake  Michigan,  the  use  jf  canals,  and 
the  right  of  taking  fish  on  the  shores  bordering  on  each 
country,  appear  to  be  very  important  and  desirable ; 
and  these  privileges,  enjoyed  for  so  long  a  period, 
could  not  now  be  abolished  without  much  inconve- 
nience, and,  perhaps,  ill  feeling,  particularly  on  the 
part  of  the  border  residents.  This  statement  was  ac- 
companied by  the  copy  of  a  resolution  in  the  following 
words : 

"  Resolved^  That  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Baltimore 
recommends  the  continuance  of  the  reciprocal  treaty 
between  the  United  States  and  the  British  North  Amer- 
ican Provinces,  with  such  modifications  only  as  the 
present  state  of  trade  may  seem  to  require,  and  having 
in  view  the  object  of  increasing,  rather  than  diminish- 
ing, the  free  commercial  intercourse  now  existing  under 
the  treaty." 

The  Board  of  Trade  of  Cleveland  acknowledged, 
through  their  Secretary,  the  receipt  of  the  circular  ask- 
ing for  its  opinion  on  the  subject  of  the  treaty,  and 
appointed  a  committee  to  meet  and  report  thereon; 
but  such  report  has  not  been  yet  received. 

The  Board  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange  in  Bath 
replied,  that,  in  their  opinion,  so  far  as  the  business  in- 


> 


f 


terest  of  the  city  is  concerned,  the  treaty,  as  it  now 
stands,  is  satisfactory.  They  were  not  in  favor  of  abro- 
gating the  treaty ;  they  were  not  in  favor  of  a  new 
treaty,  and  were  not  aware  of  any  disadvantage  that 
the  United  States  labor  under  in  regard  to  it. 

No  other  replies  have  been  received  from  the  other 
Boards  of  Trade,  to  whom  the  circulars  were  trans- 
mitted. 

The  consideration  of  this  subject  is  not  a  novelty 
with  this  Chamber.  As  long  ago  as  1852,  it  memorial- 
ized Congress  in  favor  of  a  Reciprocity  Treaty,  and  after 
it  had  gone  into  operation,  again  did  so,  January  3d, 
1856,  in  order  to  "remove  all  commercial  restrictions 
on  the  commerce  and  navigation  of  the  Canadas  and 
the  United  States;"  and  this  they  proposed  to  eflfect  by 
admitting  into  the  respective  countries  the  natural  pro- 
ductions and  manufactures  of  both,  and  to  open  to  their 
vessels  the  coasting  trade  on  the  intervening  waters  of 
the  two  countries,  with  "  all  the  advantages  that  now 
exist  between  adjoining  States."  The  Chamber,  through 
that  committee,  then  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
trade  with  Canada  might  be  greatly  extended,  enlarg- 
ing the  sphere  of  our  manufactures  and  productions, 
"  now  chargeable  with  duty  in  Canada,"  and  facilitating 
the  navigation  of  the  lakes,  by  extending  to  the  ves- 
sels of  both  like  advantages  in  the  coasting  trade  on 
the  intervening  waters  of  the  two  countries.  This  re- 
port was  signed  by  J.  Phillips  Ph(enix,  Robert  Kelly 
and  Moses  H.  Grinnell. 

Again,  in  February,  1859,  it  memorialized  Congress, 
in  the  same  liberal  spirit  which  had  always  character- 
ized its  action. 


8 


It  proposed  to  enlarge  the  operation8  of  the  existing 
Re'^iprocitj  Treaty,  by  removing  "  all  duties  and  re- 
strictions on  the  importations  into  the  United  States, 
of  all  articles  the  growth,  produce  or  manufacture  of 
the  Canadas,  and  also  to  permit  all  ships  and  vessels 
built  in  Canada  to  participate  on  equal  terms  in  the 
shipping  and  coasting  trade  on  the  interior  lakes  and 
waters  intervening  between  the  two  countries,  and  for 
that  purpose  to  open  to  the  free  and  common  use  of 
both,  all  the  water  communications,  coasts  and  ports 
on  the  aforesaid  intervening  waters,"  to  take  effect 
whenever  the  British  Government  reciprocated  by  a 
similar  enactment.  It  was  specially  recommended  that 
flour  and  shingles,  both  being  manufactured  articles, 
might  be  admitted  from  Canada  into  the  United  States 
free  of  duty.  (This  last  recommendation  had  reference 
to  a  Treasury  decision  by  Mr.  Cobb,  which  declared 
shingles  a  manufactured  article,  and  that  American 
wheat,  ground  in  a  Canadian  mill,  must  pay  duty  when 
re-imported  as  flour  into  the  United  States.)  The  report 
was  signed  by  J.  D.  P.  Ogden,  Henry  Chauncey,  W.  S. 
Griffith,  J.  H.  Read  and  Royal  Phelps. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
always  governed  by  the  largest  views  of  commercial 
subjects,  and  ever  a  watchful  and  faithful  guardian  of 
the  commercial  interests  of  the  country  at  large,  was 
an  early,  steady  and  intelligant  advocate  of  the  treaty, 
and  even  went  further  than  the  treaty  itself,  in  propos- 
ing the  opening  of  the  coasting  trade  to  the  provin- 
cials. Your  committee  have  reason  to  believe  that  this 
concession,  as  twice  recommended  by  the  Chamber,  at 
the  present  time  would  be  met  by  equally  important 
concessions  on  the  part  of  the  Provinces. 


■^ 


Before  the  change  in  the  British  policy  of  discrimina- 
tion with  regard  to  the  colonial  ports,  oflfected  by  Sir 
RoBEUT  Peel,  and  the  consummation  of  the  Reciprocity 
Treaty,  the  direct  trade  with  the  Provinces,  especially 
with  the  Canadas,  was  of  moderate  extent  and  value. 
That  a  friendly  feeling  and  a  desire  for  intimate  com- 
mercial relations  with  that  country  were  always  che- 
rished by  the  people  of  this,  is  a  well-known  historical 
fact.  When  the  thirteen  colonies  separated  from  the 
mother  country,  the  Continental  Congress  invited  the 
Canadians  formally  on  two  occasions  to  join  the  con- 
federation, and  the  articles  retained  for  the  Canadas 
the  privilege  of  becoming  members  at  a  future  day. 

When,  during  the  Revolution,  expeditions  against 
the  English  posts  on  Lake  Champlain  and  against  Mon- 
treal were  undertaken,  the  people  of  Canada  were  offi- 
cially notified  that  these  were  a  necessity  of  the  war, 
and  no  harm  was  intended  to  them.  But,  as  the  popu- 
lation was  then  largely  of  French  origin,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  this  friendly  feeling  was  ever  fully  appreciated. 
And  so,  again,  during  the  war  of  1812-15,  the  inva- 
sions of  Canada  were  a  military  necessity,  not  directed 
against  the  inhabitants  themselves  so  much  as  against 
the  power  to  whom  they  owed  allegiance,  and  who, 
with  a  proprietary  right,  made  their  soil  a  base  of 
offensive  operations. 

This  is  the  fate  of  all  colonial  dependencies,  that, 
whether  they  have  any  interest  in  the  quarrel  or  not, 
they  are  sure  to  be  compelled  to  take  part  in  the  con- 
flict, and  endure  a  large  share  of  the  devastation  of  war. 
And  this  was  one  of  the  commercial  results  of  the 
American  Revolution,  that  this  country  was  relieved 


10 


from  the  political  disorders  of  the  old  world ;  the  bat- 
tles of  ambitious  princes  in  Europe  could  no  longer 
be  fought  as  they  had  b'^en,  on  our  soil,  nor  the  sol- 
diers of  the  colonies  be  dragged  to  fight  battles  against 
the  French,  or  any  other  European  power,  either  in 
Acadia  or  the  islands  of  the  Caribbean  Seas.  And  it 
may  be  here  entirely  in  a  kindly  spirit  intimated, 
that  if  the  confederation,  about  to  be  established  north 
of  us,  could  obtain  from  the  Imperial  Government  a 
guaranty  that  it  might  preserve  a  strict  neutrality,  on 
the  breaking  out  of  all  future  foreign  wars,  in  which  it 
has  no  interest,  it  might  count  on  perpetual  peace  and 
tranquillity,  and  uninterrupted  commercial  relations 
with  the  United  States.  Nor  would  this  measure  be  a 
novelty  even  in  their  own  history.  In  1686,  with 
direct  reference  t"^  maintaining  tranquillity  between 
French  and  Eng.  ih.  colonies  on  this  continent,  a  treaty 
was  actually  negotiated  between  James  the  2d  and 
Louis  XIV.,  by  which  neutrality  was  established 
and  secured  for  the  colonies,  notwithstanding  any 
breach  between  the  mother  countries  in  Europe ;  and 
this  treaty  remained  in  force  until  the  accession  of 
William  III. 

The  wonderful  natural  configuration  of  this  part  of 
the  continent  must  have  suggested,  from  the  very  time 
of  its  d'scovery,  the  idea  of  its  becoming  a  scene  of  an 
immense  trafiQc  at  no  very  distant  day. 

And  we  know  the  early  explorers  were  awe-struck 
by  the  magnitude  and  majesty  of  these  great  inland 
waters.  According  to  the  rates  of  European  progress, 
a  century  or  so  is  but  a  natural  day ;  but  the  Americans 


i  »    ' 


"« ■ 


'I 


11 

reverse  all  this,  and  esteem  one  day  as  a  hundred  years 
•whenever  they  engage  in  any  great  project.  These 
lakes  and  rivers  were  for  centuries  almost  the  exclu- 
sive domain  of  savages,  faintly  disputed  by  the  appear- 
ance for  the  first  time,  in  1679,  of  a  small  sailing  vessel, 
launched  by  the  celebrated  French  traveller,  La  Salle  ; 
more  boldly  contested  in  1796,  by  one  small  American 
vessel  above  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  and  three  Canadian 
craft,  of  from  60  to  100  tons  each,  plying  on  Lake  On- 
tario. "When  they  became  the  property,  even  in  part, 
of  the  American  people,  their  importance  was  soon 
recognised,  and  it  was  foreseen  that  their  future  value 
commercially  was  in  direct  proportion  to  their  mag- 
nitude. But  the  British  Government  controlled  their 
great  outlet,  and  half  of  all  their  area,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Lake  Michigan,  and  showed  for  many  long  years 
no  disposition  toward  reciprocity  in  the  use  of  them,  and 
the  territories  on  both  sides  the  lakes  were  yet  without 
population,  except  that  of  an  aboriginal  character,  and 
the  navigation  was  confined  to  sloops  and  batteaux,  en- 
gaged exclusively  in  the  fur  trade. 

Westward,  beyond  the  Hudson  River,  the  country 
was  a  forest,  and  Upper  Canada,  to  a  late  period,  was 
a  wilderness,  from  the  Ottawa  to  the  Saint  Clair.  Not 
until  the  peace  of  1783  were  settlements  undertaken 
with  any  confidence,  or  pushed  with  much  success. 

Half  a  century,  however,  changed  the  whole  face  of 
the  country  bordering  on  the  lakes.  The  great  dis- 
covery of  Fulton  revolutionized  navigation,  and,  in 
1819,  an  American  steamer,  the  "  Walk  in  the  Water," 
made  a  successful  trip  from  Buffalo  to  Mackinaw.  In 
1826  and  1827,  Lake   Michigan  was   first    navigated 


I 


-I  ii 


!      i 


li 


12 


by  steamers,  and,  in  1833,  the  first  trip  was  made  to 
Chicago.  The  conception  and  successful  completion 
of  the  Erie  Canal  gave  new  life  to  the  great  North 
pnd  West,  and  inaugurated  the  system  of  internal  im- 
provements which,  from  that  day  to  this,  has  never  for 
a  moment  halted  on  its  march. 

The  railway  system,  its  twin  brother,  next  sserted 
its  power  and  added  its  influence  to  the  cause  of  pro- 
gress, while  the  now-appreciated  agency  of  steam 
rushed  forward  with  the  strength  of  millions  of  stout 
arms,  to  help  every  useful  project,  of  which  the  ele- 
ments were  time  and  labor,  to  bring  men  together 
swiftly,  exchange  their  productions  with  the  least 
delay,  and  to  make  all  transportation  so  certain,  so 
easy  and  so  rapid,  as  infinitely  to  increase  the  value 
and  results  of  human  industry. 

Previous  to  this  great  revolution  in  modern  aJBfairs, 
and  before  its  influences  began  to  show  themselves  in 
the  large  emigration  from  Europe,  the  formation  of 
new  Territories  and  States  in  the  West,  the  trade  with 
the  Canadas  was  on  the  smallest  scale.  But  as  it  in- 
creased, it  necessarily  drew  after  it  original  views  on 
the  subject  of  commercial  interests,  and  these  have 
ever  since  sought  expression  in  enactments  and  trea- 
ties for  the  security  of  their  development,  whether  of 
protection  or  enlargement. 

The  treaty  of  1783  left  England  in  possession  of  ex- 
tensive colonies  on  this  continent,  as  well  as  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  their  contiguity  to  our  own  shores 
made  them  objects  of  interest  to  our  manufacturers 
and  shippers. 

A  brief  sketch  of  the  principal  consecutive  measures 


'  ■  t  » 


13 


taken  by  both  countries  in  regard  to  this  trade  with 
the  English  colonies,  which  the  one  country  sought  to 
retain  for  herself  and  the  other  desired  much  to  partici- 
pate in,  may  not  be  uninteresting.  In  that  same  year, 
Mr.  Pitt,  then  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  intro- 
duced into  the  House  of  Commons  a  general  bill  to 
regulate  the  trade  and  intercourse  between  his  coun- 
try and  ours.  His  prophetic  eye  saw  what  was  to 
happen.  A  new  commercial  power  was  about  to 
arise  in  the  West;  just  as,  afterwards,  Mr.  Canning, 
in  our  time,  foresaw  where  a  new  political  power  was 
to  arise,  and  how  the  old  world  was  to  be  redressed 
by  the  creation  of  a  balance  of  power  in  the  new. 
This  bill  proposed  a  liberal  system  of  intercourse,  and 
terms  of  equality  between  British  and  American  ports, 
and  the  details,  singularly  enough,  \vere  almost  identi- 
cal with  those  which  were  adopted  in  1815,  and  under 
which  our  trade  with  Great  Britain  is  now  carried  on. 
With  regard  to  the  Colonial  trade,  he  pioposed  that 
the  ships  and  vessels  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  should  be  admitted  into  the  islands,  colonies  and 
plantations  of  the  British  Empire,  with  any  merchan- 
dise or  goods  of  the  growth,  produce  and  manufac- 
tures of  the  United  States,  with  the  liberty  to  export 
from  those  British  possessions  to  the  territories  of  the 
United  States  any  goods  and  merchandise  whatever ; 
and  they  were  to  be  subjected  to  no  more  duties  or 
charges  than  if  they  were  exported  by  British  vessels, 
manned  by  British  crews. 

And  it  further  extended  the  system  of  drawbacks, 
exemptions  and  bounties  on  merchandise  and  goods 
exported  from  Great  Britain  to  the  United  States,  as 


*^ 


14 


were  allowed  in  cases  of  exportation  to  the  British 
colonies. 

Before  this  bill  could  be  passed,  the  ministry  which 
had  prepared  to  carry  it  through  was,  by  one  of  those 
political  changes  not  uncommon  in  English  history, 
compelled  to  resign,  under  the  pressure  of  a  vote  of 
censure,  and  give  place  to  the  celebrated,  but  short- 
lived coalition  of  Lord  North  and  Charles  James  Fox. 
These  statesmen,  who  were  no  friends  of  America,  ob- 
jected to  the  policy  of  the  bill  of  Mr.  Pitt,  demolished 
it  at  a  blow,  and  substituted  therefor  an  act  known  as 
the  22d  George  L,  chapter  1st,  which  placed  the  regu- 
lation of  the  trade  with  the  United  States  under  the 
control  of  the  king,  or,  in  other  words,  of  the  Privy 
Council,  from  whom  afterwards  emanated  so  many 
famous  documents,  known  as  Orders  in  Council.  An 
order,  July  2d,  1783,  continued  by  annual  acts  of  Par- 
liament and  further  orders  in  council,  until  February, 
1788,  permanently  established  a  prohibitory  system  in 
regard  to  direct  trade  with  the  colonies,  except  in  a 
very  few  cases. 

The  act  of  George  III.,  before  alluded  to,  placed 
the  commerce  of  the  United  States  with  the  British 
possessions  in  Europe  on  the  ordinary  footing  of  com- 
merce with  friendly  nations ;  but  it  provided  that  the 
trafl&c  between  the  United  States  and  the  British  col- 
onies should  be  exclusively  carried  on  in  British  bot- 
toms. Under  the  act  of  1788,  the  king  was  authorized 
to  open  and  close  the  colonial  ports  at  his  pleasure. 

By  one  of  the  Orders  in  Council,  ostensibly  aimed  at 
France,  vessels  laden  with  French  colonial  produce,  or 
carrying  supplies  for  any  French  colony,  were  declared 


15 


I  %  \\ 


subject  to  be  captured.  The  neutral  powers,  among 
whom  the  United  States  were  prominent,  were  of  course 
seriously  affected — none  more  go.  Serious  difl&culties 
followed ;  and  the  people  of  this  country,  indignant  at 
this  order,  proposed  immediate  retaliation,  when  Mr. 
Jay  was  sent  to  England  to  settle  the  alarming  difficul- 
ties. This  treaty  waa  concluded  in  London  in  Novem- 
ber, 1794,  but  was  not  ratified  by  us  until  August, 
1795,  as  it  became  the  subject  of  very  violent  discus- 
sion both  in  and  out  of  Congress.  The  treaty  contained 
one  clause  which  was  rejected,  in  relation  to  the  In- 
dian tribes  within  our  territory,  whom  it  proposed  to 
leave  forever  under  the  jurisdiction  :  the  British 
Crown.  If  this  had  been  assented  to  on  our  part,  it 
would  have  made  our  future  acquisition  from  the  sav- 
ages, of  the  vast  northwestern  territory,  now  the  sites 
of  flourishing  States,  almost  impossible.  That  part  of 
the  treaty  which  related  to  our  colonial  trade,  restrict- 
ed it,  and  placed  it  under  very  inconvenient  and  un- 
friendly regulations.  It  was  the  best,  however,  that 
could  be  got.  In  1797  and  1798  countervailing  and  dis- 
criminating duties  were  imposed  by  act  of  Parliament, 
all  having  the  eflect  of  crippling  our  trade,  followed 
by  an  export  duty  of  four  per  cent,  levied  on  neutral 
American  vessels,  as  a  compensation  for  the  expenses  of 
convoy.  In  1801  came  the  peace  of  Amiens,  and  in  two 
years  afterwards  the  war  abroad  broke  out  afresh,  and  the 
treaty  of  Mr.  Jay,  in  its  commercial  stipulations,  had 
expired.  In  1805,  not  only  were  we  unable  to  retain 
what  commerce  we  had  of  a  hitherto  undisputed  char- 
acter, but  still  less  to  obtain  further  extension  in  the 
direction  of  the  colonies,  and  our  ships  were  every- 


I 


16 


where  seized,  tried  and  condemned,  in  direct  violation 
of  a  principle  laid  down  and  acted  on  by  the  British 
Ministry  in  1801.  This  was,  "  that  the  produce  of  an 
enemy's  colony  might  be  imported  by  a  neutral  into  his 
own  country,  and  thence  re-exported  to  the  mother 
country  of  such  colony." 

The  consequence  was,  that  the  great  and  sudden  dam- 
age done  our  commerce  again  exasperated  the  people 
of  the  United  States  to  the  highest  degree. 

All  parties  joined  in  demanding  redress,  and  Con- 
gress, in  a  series  of  spirited  resolutions,  required  the 
President  to  make  the  demand. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  then  in  the  Executive  chair,  de- 
spatched Mr.  PiNCKNEY  to  London,  there  to  co-operate 
with  Mr.  Monroe,  to  settle  the  difficulties  between  the 
two  nations ;  but,  while  they  were  able  to  adjust  the 
principal  differences,  they  were  totally  unable  to  make 
any  arrangement  for  the  prosecution  of  the  trade  with 
the  British  colonies,  and  they  abandoned  the  attempt. 
This  treaty  was  summarily  rejected  by  Mr.  Jefferson, 
without  consulting  the  United  States  Senate. 

From  that  time  a  war  of  diplomatic  and  legislative 
restrictions  commenced,  and  was  carried  on  with  con- 
siderable severity.  In  1807  the  embargo  was  declared ; 
and  this  had  the  desired  effect  of  producing  an  order 
from  the  British  Government,  authorizing  the  gover- 
nors, respectively,  of  the  North  American  colonies  to 
open  their  ports  to  American  vessels,  which  had  been 
excluded  from  them  ever  since  1783. 

The  clamors  against  this  measure  caused  its  repeal 
in  March,  1809 ;  but,  the  same  day,  the  non-inter- 
course bill  was  passed  in  its  place,  with  power  to  the 


17 


President  to  revoke  it,  in  case  either  England  or  France 
should  revoke  their  orders  in  council  and  decrees  in 
violation  of  the  neutrality  rights  of  the  United  States. 

In  1809,  Mr.  Erskine,  the  British  Minister,  appeared 
at  Washington,  bearing  the  olive  branch,  which  Mr. 
Madison  accepted,  the  former  offering  the  repeal  of  the 
offensive  orders  in  council,  and  the  latter  issuing  a 
proclamation  renewing  our  former  commercial  inter- 
course with  England.  The  British  Ministry  disavowed 
the  arrangement  on  their  part,  and  non-intercourse  was 
again  proclaimed.  Out  of  this  eventually  came  the 
declaration  of  war,  founded  on  the  enormous  extent 
of  the  captures  of  American  vessels — nearly  1,000  in 
number. 

The  war  closed  with  the  Convention  of  1815,  which, 
strange  to  say,  was  silent  on  the  subject  of  the  en- 
croachments on  our  commerce,  and  the  impressment  of 
American  seamen — two  of  the  principal  causes  of  the 
war  itself  On  the  other  hand,  it  retained  for  the 
British  Government  the  exclusive  right  to  the  direct 
trade  with  her  colonies,  and  all  the  advantages  of  the 
circuitous  voyage,  then  the  only  colonial  trade  permit- 
ted, that  is  to  say,  of  carrying  goods  from  Great  Britain 
to  the  colonies,  thence  to  the  United  States,  thence  to 
Great  Britain,  a  system  of  which  we  had  unavailingly 
complained. 

Mr.  Madison,  therefore,  in  his  message  of  31st  De- 
cember, 1816,  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  this 
subject,  insisting  upon  the  reasonableness  of  the  rule 
of  reciprocity.  Congress  responded  by  two  acts,  vir- 
tually for  the  protection  of  our  trade  with  the  British 
colonies.     Nothing  coming  out  of  these,  two  others 

2 


• 


18 


were  passed  on  the  18th  of  April,  1818,  and  the  15th 
of  May,  1820. 

The  Convention  of  1818  related  purely  to  a  settle- 
ment of  the  Fishery  question  for  the  time,  more  com- 
pletely and  satisfactorily  arranged,  however,  by  the 
Reciprocity  Treaty. 

During  the  administration  of  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams,  and 
the  subsequent  one  of  General  Jackson,  repeated  efforts 
were  made  to  open  the  colonial  trade  on  grounds  of 
reciprocity .  Numerous  acts  of  Parliament,  orders  in 
Council,  Congressional  acts  and  Presidential  proclama- 
tions again  occurred  for  many  years  successively,  but 
with  little  result.  To  present  these  in  chronological 
order  would  require  more  space  than  can  be  permitted 
in  an  ordinary  report.  They  are  altogether  too  volum- 
inous for  our  purpose,  but  may  be  traced  in  the  reports 
of  the  Debates  of  Congress,  where  the  negotiations  at- 
tempted, and  the  measures  adopted,  were  canvassed  at 
great  length.  A  list  of  the  various  treaties,  conven- 
tions and  arrangements,  however,  relating  to  the  sub- 
ject, is  added  in  an  appendix  to  this  report,  embracing 
all  necessary  for  its  elucidation. 

Meantime  the  direct  trade  with  Canada  continued  to 
be  carried  on  under  previous  conventions,  with  an 
occasional  relaxation  as  to  certain  ports  on  either 
side. 

But  the  great  difficulty  still  remained  unsettled  until 
1854.  This  arrangement,  after  all,  was  first  practically 
proposed,  after  innumerable  failures  on  our  part  to 
draw  it  forth,  by  the  British  Minister  to  our  Govern- 
ment, in  1847-8,  and  at  the  instance  of  Canada,  and 
from  her  desire  to  establish  a  free  trade  v/ith  the  United 


19 


States,  in  certain  articles,  the  natural  product  of  both 
countries.  That  province,  just  before  and  after  the 
"Union,"  under  the  impetus  given  to  the  construction 
of  railways  n  England,  began  herself  to  adopt  the 
policy.  Her  first  work  was  the  consuructton  of  the  St. 
John's  Railway,  connecting  the  River  St.  Lawrence 
witli  Lake  Champlain.  This  went  into  operation  ir 
18o7.  Several  other  minor  schemes  were  promoted, 
but  came  to  little  results.  The  St.  Lawrence  and  At- 
lantic— its  eastern  terminus  at  Portland — was  next  at- 
tempted, and  finally  became  a  part  of  tLe  Grand 
Trunk. 

Tlie  first  railway  in  Upper  Canada,  constructed  to  be 
worked  by  locomotives,  was  that  between  Toronto  and 
Bradford,  and  since  that  time  Canada  has,  under  con- 
siderable difliculty  and  pecuniary  embarrassment,  but 
with  commendable  enterprise,  constructed  2,100  miles 
of  railway,  among  which  the  Great  Western,  Grand 
Trunk,  Northern,  and  Buffalo  and  Lake  Huron  are  the 
most  important.  There  are  in  Canada  sixteen  distinct 
lines.  The  expenditure  therefor  has  been  one  hundred 
millions  of  dollars,  of  which  thirty  millions  were  fur- 
nished by  the  Government  and  municipalities. 

It  was  soon  perceived  that,  without  a  large  share  of 
American  traffic,  they  could  not  more  than  pay  their 
expenses,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that,  without 
the  continuance  of  the  Reciprocity  Treaty,  neither  the 
railways  nor  canals  of  Canada  can  be  considered  as 
prosperous  and  remunerating  works.  It  therefore  be- 
came obvious  to  their  projectors  and  friends,  as  well  as 
to  those  persons  engaged  in  commerce,  that  the  inter- 
ests of  those  railways,  as  well  as  those  of  the  province 


20 


at  large,  could  only  be  properly  secured  by  a  free  in- 
tercourse with  the  United  States.  They  undoubtedly 
perceived  that  the  teeming  prairies  of  the  West  were 
worth  their  attention. 

So,  too,  with  the  Canadian  canals.  These,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Rideau  Canal,  which  is  rather  a  mili- 
tary work  than  any  other,  were  but  the  following  of 
the  example  set  in  this  State  by  the  construction  of  the 
Erie  and  Champlain. 

The  success  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Canals  and  the  Wel- 
land  has  depended  chiefly  on  the  northwestern  trade 
and  the  navigation  of  the  upper  lakes.  Reciprocity  to 
them  was,  therefore,  an  object  of  high  importance,  as 
has  been  proved  by  the  great  and  rapid  growth  of  the 
City  of  Montreal,  which  had  hitherto  possessed  a  greater 
historical  than  commercial  reputation. 

After  six  years'  constant  action  and  solicitation  by 
the  Canadians,  as  well  as  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  on  their  borders, — after  many  failures  and  much 
diplomatic  correspondence, — a  reciprocity  treaty  was 
negotiated  at  Washington,  a  copy  of  which  is  to  be 
found  in  the  appendix,  and  thereupon  a  bill  was  passed 
through  one  branch  of  Congress,  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
visions of  the  treaty ;  but  it  would  have  failed,  after  all, 
in  the  other,  but  for  the  parliamentary  tactics  of  Mr. 
Bayley,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Virginia,  who  suc- 
ceeded, by  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  rules  of  the 
House,  to  get  it  taken  up  and  passed  late  in  the  last 
day  of  the  session.  It  was  immediately  sent  to  the 
Senate,  and  became  a  law.  Among  the  distinguished 
men  who  were  engaged  in  urging  the  policy  of  the 
treaty  at  various  periods  of  doubt,  were  Mr.  Everett, 


i 


li 


21 


1 


Mr.  Gushing,  General  Dix,  Mr.  Clayton,  Mr.  Douglas, 
Mr.  Seward,  Mr.  Andrews,  late  Consul-Gen  oral  for 
Canada,  Mr.  Webster,  Mr.  Marcy,  and  numerous  other 
functionaries. 

Indeed,  the  question  had  always  been  a  prominent 
one  with  the  Government  from  its  foundation.  Every 
administration  in  succession  had  taken  it  in  hand. 
Every  President,  since  the  time  of  Washington,  had 
referred  to  it.  Congress  after  Congress  had  passed  acts 
to  countervail  the  baleful  policy  of  the  orders  in  coun- 
cil, and  proclamations  were  of  great  frequency,  in  order 
to  adapt  our  system  of  self-defence  to  that  of  exclujive- 
ness  and  aggression. 

When  the  internal  improvements  in  Canada  began  to 
show  their  value,  as  well  as  their  necessities,  the  Eng- 
lish capitalists  interested  in  them,  as  well  as  the  Cana- 
dian, were  not  slow  to  see  that  the  restrictive  and  dis- 
criminating policy  of  former  years  would  not  do  for 
them.  Much  anxiety  for  the  formation  of  a  treaty, 
during  several  years  preceding  the  year  of  its  consum- 
mation, was  displayed  on  the  part  of  the  Canadians. 
Lord  Elgin,  when  Governor-General,  sent  an  agent  to 
President  Taylor,  requesting  him  to  establish  a  more 
liberal  commercial  intercourse  with  the  provinces,  with 
the  hope  that  it  would  restore  peace  and  prosperity  on 
the  northern  frontiers,  interrupted  by  the  rebellion  in 
Canada.  Mr.  Clayton,  then  Secretary  of  State,  imme- 
diately responded,  by  appointing  Mr.  Andrews,  a 
special  agent,  to  visit  each  of  the  colonies,  with  in- 
structions, which  were  submitted  to  Mr.  Crampton,  the 
British  Minister,  in  1849,  and  which  required  the  ex- 
amination of  fifteen  different  points  of  importance  to 


22 

the  prosecution  of  the  negotiations.  Again,  in  1851, 
the  lion.  Francis  IIincks,  the  Canadian  Minister  of 
Finance,  visited  Washington  with  a  similar  purpose, 
seconded  l)y  the  efforts  of  the  then  British  Minister,  Sir 
H.  L.  BuLWER,  who,  in  a  direct  letter  to  Mr.  Wedster, 
proposed  to  negotiate  for  the  better  establishment  of 
commercial  intercourse  between  Canada  and  the  United 
States,  on  the  distinct  ground  that  the  former  had 
"generously,  and  without  stipulations,  conceded  many 
commercial  advantages"  to  the  latter.  Those  conces- 
sions, it  may  be  proper  to  state,  were  made  in  1847, 
consisting  of  a  legislative  enactment,  authorizing  the 
introduction  free  of  duty  into  Canada,  of  the  natural 
productions  of  the  United  States,  whenever  the  latter 
should  reciprocate  by  similar  enactment. 

The  treaty  was  finally  made  and  concluded  by  Lord 
Elgin  and  William  L.  Marcy,  Secretary  of  State,  bear- 
ing date  5th  of  June,  1854.  The  ratifications  were 
exchanged  on  the  9th  of  September,  the  same  year,  by 
Mr.  CuAMrTON,  the  tlien  British  Minister,  and  William 
L.  Marcy,  the  Secretary  of  State.  The  act  to  carry 
out  the  treaty,  which  had  "  so  difficult  and  dilatory  "  a 
passage,  effected  finally  in  August  of  the  same  year, 
provided  that  when  satisfactory  evidence  was  received 
by  the  President,  that  the  Imperial  Parliament  and  the 
Provincial  Parliaments  of  Canada,  New-Brunswick, 
Nova  Scotia,  Prince  Edward's  and  Newfoundland 
Islands  had  passed  laws  to  give  effect  to  the  treaty,  he 
should  proclaim  the  immediate  operation  of  its  provi- 
sions. 

Before  the  subject,  however,  came  to  a  final  action, 
it  was  proposed,  on  the  part  of  one  or  more  of  the 


■' 


23 


proviiiccs,  that  tlio  treaty  might  go  into  immcdiato 
effect  with  a  part,  l)cforc  tlie  legislation  of  the  whole 
had  been  perfected.  This  was  declined,  upon  the 
strength  of  the  legal  opinion  which  Mr.  Cusiiinq,  then 
Attorney-General,  gave  to  the  Secretary  of  State. 

Finally,  however,  all  the  formalities  were  complied 
with,  and  from  that  time  to  this  the  trade  between  tho 
British  North  American  provinces  has  been  carried  on 
and  increased  to  its  present  large  proportions. 

The  next  consideration  which  presents  itself  to  the 
Committee  is  the  practical  working  of  tho  treaty  itself, 
and  how  it  has  affected  the  interests  of  parties  who 
were  so  solicitous  for  its  adoption. 

An  analysis  of  the  numerous  tables  at  hand  enables 
us  to  form  a  very  safe  opinion. 

In  1849,  the  whole  value  of  the  imports  and  ex- 
ports between  Canada  and  the  United  States  was  but 
$0,000,000  aimually.  It  had  grown  very  slowly  to 
this  figure.  In  that  year  the  Canadian  canals  were 
opened.  Up  to  1847,  the  trade  of  Western  Canada 
was  forced  down  the  St.  Lawrence  by  a  protective  daty 
on  all  Canadian  agricultural  products,  American  wlieat 
was  then  extensively  imported  into  Canada  and  ground 
into  flour.  In  1849,  the  bonding  system  was  inaugur- 
ated in  the  United  States,  by  which  Canada  could  im- 
port and  export  in  bond ;  and  the  navigation  laws  of 
England  were  also  repealed,  by  which  a  great  advance 
in  our  forcii^n  trade  was  obtained. 

When  the  Reciprocity  Treaty  took  effect,  the  trade 
between  Canada  and  the  United  States  became  still 
more  extensive,  and,  notwithstanding  the  natural  out- 
lot  to  the  ocean  by  way  of  the  lakes  and  the  Canadian 


^. 


24 

canals,  in  fact,  the  shortest  ^oute  to  Europe  by  nearly 
500  miles,  taking  the  starting  point  at  Chicago,  by 
much  the  largest  part  of  the  exports  of  Canada  West, 
as  in  the  year  1860,  were  to  the  United  States,  and 
through  the  State  of  New  York.  Some  of  the  most 
sagacious  merchants  of  Montreal  entertain  the  opinion, 
that  to  get  even  a  fair  share  of  this  American  business, 
the  Welland  and  St.  Lawrence  Canals  must  be  enlarged 
in  lockage,  and  deepened,  and  a  ship  canal  constructed 
to  connect  the  St.  Lawrence  Eiver  and  Lake  Cham- 
plain. 

Ihe  following  table,  compiled  directly  from  the  offi- 
cial Canadian  reports,  gives  the  result  of  the  commerce 
between  the  two  countries,  classed  under  the  heads  of 
dutiable  and  free,  with  their  totals,  since  1854. 

This  estimate,  carefully  prepared  for  this  report, 
gives  larger  aggregates  than  are  given  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  It  is  proper  to  state,  that 
the  tabular  statements  recently  published  by  the  United 
States  Treasury  Department,  have,  for  want  of  proper 
distinctions  kept  up  in  our  custom-houses,  been  neces- 
sarily made  up  from  these  very  Canadian  reports. 

The  tables  are  both  for  free-trade  and  goods  paying 
a  duty,  for  the  years  1854  to  1863,  both  inclusive,  and 
they  show  many  interesting  facts  deserving  the  careful 
attention  of  our  legislators.  The  total  balance  of  trade 
in  our  favor,  in  all  goods  coming  and  going,  is 
$46,307,275.  On  dutiable  goods,  &c.,  the  balance  of 
trade  in  our  favor  is  the  large  sum  of  $88,884,647. 
But  on  free  goods  alone,  the  balance  of  trade  is  in  favor 
of  Canada,  to  the  amount  of  $42,577,372. 


. 


t 


26 

IMPORTS  INTO   CANADA  TROli  THK  tJNlTBD  STATES. 

Tear                       Goods  Duty  Fret.            Good,  paying  Duty.  Total  Importi. 

1864, |S2,083,'75Y  ..  $13,449,341   ..  $15,583,098 

1855, 9,379,204  ..   11,449,472  ..  20,828.676 

1856, 9,933,586  ..   12,770,923  ..  22,704,509 

1857........  10,258,221  ..    9,966,430  ..  20,224,651 

1858, 7,161,958  ..    8,473,607  ..  15,635,565 

1859, 8,556,545  ..    9,036,371  ..  17,59?.916 

I860, 8,740,485  ..    8,532,544  ..  17,273,029 

1861 12,722,756  ..    8,346,633  ..  21,069,388 

1862, 19,044,374  ..    6,128,783  ..  25,173,157 

1863, 19,134,966  ..    3,974,396  ..  23,109,362 

Ten  years,. .  $107,015,851     $92,128,500  $199,144,351 

EXPORTS   FROM    CANADA   INTO   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

Tear.                   Ooodt  Duty  Free.             MannfMture*,  Ac.  Total  Exportt. 

1854, $8,387,015      ..             $261,987      ..  $8,649,002 

1855, 16,508,113     ..              229,164     ..  16,737,277 

1856, 17,781,542     ..              108,212      ,.  17,979,754 

1857, 12,910,980     ..              295,456     ..  13,206,436 

1858, 11,656,769     ..               273,325      ..  11,930,094 

1859, 13,624,467     ..              297,847     ..  13,922,314 

I860, 18,095,399     ..              332,569     ..  18,427,968 

1861, 14,096,795      ..               289,632      ..  14,386,427 

1862 14,565,846     ..              497,884     ..  15,063,730 

1863, 21,966,297     ..              667,777     ..  22,534,074 

Ten  years,. $149,593,223                 $3,243,853  $152,837,076 

InfavorofU.S 88,884,647  46,307,276 

Against  U.S..    42,577,372  ....  

According  to  the  recent  report  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  the  total  imports  to  the  British  provinces 

from  the  United  States  was,  in  1827,      .  $445,118 

and  +he  exports,         .            .            •  2,830,G74 

In  1854,  the  imports  were           ,            •  8,927,560 

and  the  exports,  .  .  •  24,556,860 
In  1855,  the  next  year  after  the  treaty, 

the  imports  were         .            .            •  15,136,734 


26 


$27,806,020 
24,025,423 

31,281,030 


and  the  exports, 
In  1863,  the  imports  were 
and  the  exports  to  the  provinces  had 
reached, 

The  report  alluded  to  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, in  reply  to  a  resolution  of  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  March  12,  18G3,  gives  the  details  of  the  com- 
merce with  great  minuteness,  which  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  incorporate  into  this  report  without  swelling 
it  to  an  inconvenient  size.  From  it,  however,  we  ex- 
tract this  summary  of  the  whole :  That  the  average 
annual  export  trade  to  Canada  for  eight  fiscal  years 
following  the  enactment  of  the  Reciprocity  Treaty, 
was  .....  $1G,82G,797 
Of  which,     ....  13,493,730 

was  the  value  of  domestic  produce ;  and  3,333,058 
of  the  foreign  goods.  The  average  for  the  last  four 
years  is  $12,933,000  of  domestic  produce,  showing  a 
decline.  In  the  foreign  goods  export,  the  average  for 
those  eight  years  shows  a  decline  also,  from  $6,790,333 
in  1854,  and  $8,769,580  in  1855,  to  $1,560,397  in  1862, 
and  $1,468,113  in  1863.  This  latter  indicates  that  the 
supply  of  foreign  goods  for  consumption  in  Canada  no 
longer  comes  through  the  United  States,  as  before  the 
treaty,  but  that  advantage  of  the  bonding  system  is 
taken,  and  the  report  asserts  that  these  bonded  goods 
are  chiefly  passed  through  Portland. 

The  imports  from  Canada  are  stated  to  be  as  follows : 

The  average  value  for  eight  years  past  is  $16,643,825 
Of  which  the  dutiable,  paying  an  average 

duty  to  the  United  States,  was   but  467,238 


?m 


27 

On  the  contrary,  tlie  average  value  of  the  duty- 
paying  goods  entering  Canada  from  the  United  States, 
for  the  eight  years,  was  .  .         $8,401,481 

On  comparing  the  results,  it  would  therefore  appear 
that  the  average  value  of  duty-poying  goods,  entering 
Canada,  is  .  .  •  •       $T,934,243 

n-.ore  than  that  of  duty-paying  goods  entcrnig  the 
United  States  from  Canada.  The  respective  values  of 
articles  made  free  by  the  Reciprocity  Treaty,  from 
1856  to  1861,  were  twice  as  great  from  Canada,  or  of 
Canadian  produce,  as  from  the  United  States,  or  of 
United  States  products.  In  1862  and  1863,  the  same 
report  states,  that  in  consequence  of  the  enormous 
increase  in  the  shipments  of  wheat,  flour  and  grain  to 
Canada,  whether  for  consumption  there  or  export 
thence,  the  values  became  nearly  equal.  The  total 
value  of  the  reciprocity  or  free  imports  into  Canada, 
for  the  eight  years,  is  given  in  the.  Secretary's  re- 
port, differing  from  our  special  table 

somewhat,  at         .  •  •         $73,215,623 

and  of  the  imports  from  Canada  into  the 

United  States,  at  .  •  115,548,880 


makinjx  a  ^rand  total  of, 


$188,764,503 


The  treaty  has,  therefore,  released  from  duty 
$42,333,257  in  value  of  Canadian  produce  more  than 
of  goods  the  produce  of  the  United  States.  Of  tliis 
sum  about  thirteen  millions  must  be  deducted  as  the 
value  of  articles  imported  into  the  United  States  free, 
under  the  general  existing  laws,  sucli  as  produce  re- 
turned to  the  United  States,  personal  effects,  coins, 


28 


trees  and  shrubs,  ores,  paintings,  and  produce  of  Amer- 
ican fisheries. 

It  may  be  well  to  note  in  this  place  that  the  trade 
with  the  British  North  American  provinces,  other  than 
Canada,  was,  in  1851,  as  follows : 


Our  exports  were    . 

and  our  imports. 

In  1863,  the  exports  had  grown  to 

and  the  imports. 


$4,085,783 
1,736,651 

10,998,505 
5,207,424 


fully  sustaining  the  statement  made  in  another  part  of 
this  report,  on  provincial  authority.  ■ 

With  regard  to  the  value  of  imports  into  Canada 
passing  through  the  United  States  under 
bond,  it    appears  that,   in    1855,  it   was  $4,463,774 
and  in  1863  it  was  .  .  .       6,172,483 

the  highest  figures  at  any  time   reached 

while  by  the  River  St.  Lawrence  ;  it  was, 

in  1855,      .... 
and  in  1863  it  was 
the  highest  point  reached,  except  in  1861 

and  1862,  when  it  was 
and        ..... 


12,738,373 
16,439,930 


16,726,541 
17,601,019 


The  articles  of  American  manufacture  principally 
imported  into  Canada,  and  paying  duty  there,  are 
stated  to  be  chiefly  as  follows  : 

Cotton  manufactures ;  hemp  do. ;  iron  do.,  all  other 
than  pig ;  leather  boots  and  shoes ;  manufactured  to- 
bacco ;  glass  ware  ;  earthenware  ;  house  furniture ;  In- 
dia rubber  goods ;  carriages ;  books,  paper  and  station- 
ery ;  jewelry ;   hats ;   tin  manufactures ;   marble  and 


29 


stone  do.;  truni^s  and  umbrellas;  clothing;  wood 
manufactures ;  paints  and  varnish ;  copper  and  brass 
manufactures;  musical  instruments ;  printing  materials, 
and  other  unenumerated  manufactures,  spirits,  and  beer 

and  ale.  « 

The  returns  of  the  Welland  Canal,  as  a  means  ot 

transit  by  American  shippers  from  American  ports,  is 

also  given. 

The  tonnage  passing  eastward  was  as  follows : 


In  1861,  to  Canadian  ports, 

"  United  States  do., 
''  1862,  "   Canadian  ports, 
»     "       "  United  States  do., 
"  1863,   "  Canadian  ports, 

"  United  States  do., 


u 


(( 


(( 


217,892  tons, 

427,521 

285,192 

471,521 

298,436 

441,862 


u 


The  tonnage  passing  westward  was  as  follows  : 


In  1861,  to  Canadian  ports, 
'       "  United  States  do., 
1862,    "  Canadian  ports, 
'       "  United  States  do., 
"  1863,    "  Canadian  ports, 
"       "  United  States  do.. 


u 


(( 


10,185  tons. 
116,240     " 

14,908 
171,673 

67,478 
323,244 


The  business  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Canals,  up  and 
down,  between  the  American  ports  and  Lower  Canada, 

was : 


In  1861, 
"  1862, 
"  1863, 


16,537  tons. 
22,691  " 
22,118  " 


30 


It  will  thus  be  seen  that  but  a  small  part  of  the  ton- 
nage which  passes  through  the  Welland  Canal,  finds  its 
way  through  the  St.  Lawrence  Canals. 

It  is  observed  that  there  are  two  free  ports  in  Cana- 
da, authorized  in  1860 — one  at  Gaspe  Basin,  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  where  goods  may  be  entered  for  consump- 
tion or  re-exportation,  and  intended  principally  for  the 
benefit  of  the  fishermen  and  lumbermen  of  that  district ; 
the  other  is  at  the  Sault  Ste.  ^Larie,  intended  for  the 
benefit  of  the  miners.  The  operations  at  both  ports 
are  very  limited.  It  is  proper  here  to  observe,  that 
the  subject  has  also  been  agitated  in  Montreal,  of  mak- 
ing that  city  a  free  port  also ;  but  as  this  would  de- 
prive Canada  of  a  large  part  of  its  revenue  from  com- 
merce, there  is  not  much  probability  of  the  adop- 
tion of  the  suggestion,  unless  it  might  serve  to  divert 
western  purchasers  from  Portland,  Boston  and  New- 
York.  AVe  have  thus  far  seen  that  the  aggregate  of 
this  traffic  is  large,  and  the  so-called  balance  of  trade 
is  in  favor  of  the  United  States,  and  that  that  balance, 
thus  far,  maybe  estimated  at  $46,000,000  and  upwards. 

The  next  question  which  presents  itself  for  our  con- 
sidorution  is  this :  AVliat,  if  any,  arc  the  objections  to 
a  renewal  of  tliis  treaty  ?  That  there  has  been  con- 
siderable opposition  to  its  renewal,  both  in  the  Britiah 
provinces  and  the  United  States,  is  well  known. 

The  result  of  careful  inquiries  on  this  subject  is  as 
follows : 

Tl  !  Upper  Province,  or  Canada  West,  appears  to  be 
in  f<  '^v  of  its  renewal,  and  Canada  East,  with  the  ex- 
coptioi.  of  Montreal,  to  be  indifferent. 

The  leading  presses  in  the  maritime  provinces  de- 


r 


31 

mand  modifications,  in  respect  to  the  coasting  trade 
and  the  right  of  registry  in  the  American  ports.     The 
legislature  of  Newfoundland,  at  a  recent  session,  re- 
solved, that  while  the  treaty  had,  in  some  respects,  been 
beneficial  to  the  island  and  attended  with  favorable  re- 
sults,  yet   it  would  not  pledge  itself  to  its  uncondi- 
tional adoption.     It   also   resolved,  that  negotiations 
should  be  opened  for  the  repeal  of  the  bounties  on 
home-cured  fish,  by  the  United  States,  and  other  modi- 
fications which  would  be  fiivorable  to  Newfoundland. 
The  opinion  of  the  people  of  New-Brunswick,  as  ex- 
pressed in  their  leading  journals,  is,  that  the  treaty  is 
not   as   favorable  to  them  as  it  should  be;  that  the 
privilege  of  fishing  along  the  American   coast  is   no 
equivalent  for  the  concession  of  that  on  the  banks  of 
Newfoundland,  and  that  the  surrender  of  their  exten- 
sive coasting  trade  and  the  privilege  of  registry  have 
no  equivalent.     A  revision  is  asked  for,  accordingly, 

There  are  also  those  of  our  own  citizens,  and  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  who  believe  that  the  advantages  of 
the  treaty  are  on  the  side  oFthe  British  provinces,  and 
that  they  obtain  a  large  revenue  from  the  importation 
of  our  dutiable  articles,  while  we  get  but  very  little  in 
that  way  in  return. 

The  reply  to  this  last  objection  is:  the  duties 
which  are  levied  and  paid  in  the  provinces  are  paid  by 
the  consumers  there,  and  not  by  the  American  pro- 
ducers or  exporters ;  that  the  latter  have,  therefore, 
nothing  to  do  with  that  question.  They  find  a  profit 
in  exporting  such  articles,  and  if  they  did  not,  they 
would  not  export  them.  They  are  necessities  to  the 
people  of  the  provinces,  because  they  do  not  manufac- 


■ 


32 


ture  them  for  themselves ;  and,  again,  if  the  treaty  were 
abolished,  the  provinces  might  offer  such  privileges  and 
concessions  as  would  induce  western  shippers  still  fur- 
ther to  use  their  lakes  and  canals,  to  the  injury  of  our 
canals  and  railways.  It  is  also  considered  by  many,  that 
if  heavy  duties  were  levied  on  all  Canadian  imports,  and 
the  bonding  system  was  done  away  with,  the  Cana- 
dians of  both  provinces  would  be  compelled  to  buy 
exclusively  in  Quebec  and  Montreal,  by  which  Bos- 
ton, Portland  and  New-York  would  be  materially  af- 
fected. 

When,  a  few  years  ago,  the  treaty  was  subjected  to 
a  severe  ordeal,  by  a  commission  appointed  by  the 
United  States  Government,  to  obtain  information,  Mr. 
Hatch,  of  Buffalo,  one  of  them,  reported  in  favor  of  its 
abrogation,  and  his  colleague,  Mr.  Taylor,  against 
it.  At  the  same  time,  however,  the  Boards  of  Trade 
of  Chicago,  Milwaukie,  Detroit  and  Oswego  argued  in 
favor  of  retaining  it,  with  the  expression  of  their  opin- 
ion that  it  should  be  made  even  more  liberal  in  its 
character. 

Another  curious  and  very  demonstrative  fact  was 
stated,  that  under  the  treaty,  the  imports  and  exports 
of  Quebec  had  declined  nearly  one-third,  and  those  of 
Toronto  increased,  showing  that  much  of  the  trade 
carried  on  previously  with  the  former  city  had  been 
transferred  to  the  Canadian  lake  ports.  It  is  also  stated, 
on  very  good  authority,  that  the  trade  of  Quebec,  ex- 
clusive of  that  in  lumber,  is  of  little  amount  compared 
with  that  of  Montreal  and  the  upper  ports. 

It  has  also  been  alleged,  in  opposition  to  the  treaty, 
by  parties  in  the  State  of  Maine  especially,  that  it  has 


WWf 


t 


'. 


33 

greatly  damaged  the  lumbering  interests  in  that  State. 
The  speculations  in  lumber  lands,  which  followed  the 
adoption  of  the  treaty,  were  undoubtedly  very  dam- 
aging to  the  people  of  that  State,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  Province  of  New-Brunswick ;  but  since  that  time 
the  business  has  adjusted  itself  to  the  present  condition 
of  things,  while  the  use  of  the  River  St.  John's,  which 
heads  in  the  United  States,  enables  the  lumber  about 
its  sources  and  tributaries,  within  our  lines,  to  be  car- 
ried free  through  the  province,  and  is,  so  far,  a  great 
advantage  to  that  branch  of  American  industry.  Be- 
sides, it  is  questionable  whether  what  might  be  gained 
by  shutting  out  the  lumber  trade  of  the  provinces, 
might  not  more  than  be  balanced  by  a  loss  of  the 
present  fisheries.  On  inquir}-,  the  Committee  has 
learned  that  the  lumber  and  bark  trade  of  the  State  of 
Maine  is  again  on  the  increase. 

It  may  be  safely  said,  that  much  of  the  opposition  to 
the  treaty  in  the  provinces,  inconsiderable  as  it  is,  has 
been  actuated  by  the  desire  for  the  construction  of  the 
international  railway,  whose  Atlantic  terminus  is  to  be 
at  Halifax ;  and  it  is  also  known  that  the  plan  of  the 
new  confederation  includes  this  policy. 

With  regard  to  the  duties  levied  in  Canada  on 
American  manufactures,  Mr.  Galt,  the  present  able 
Minister  of  Finance  of  Canada,  explained  to  the  Man- 
chester Board  of  Commerce,  when  he  was  last  in  Eng- 
land, that  the  colony  was  too  poor  to  bear  direct  taxation 
for  increasing  the  revenue,  the  public  debt  being  sixty 
millions  of  dollars,  of  which  twenty  had  been  expended 
on  canals,  and  as  much  more  on  railways;  that  the 
duties  of  20  and  10  per  cent,  on  manufactures  of  tex- 

3 


34 


tile  fabrics  were  moderate,  and  for  revenue  and  not  for 
protection ;  and  any  further  increase  would  be  only  to 
keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  the  American  tariff 
caused  by  the  war. 

There  have  appeared  in  the  Montreal  papers,  from 
time  to  time,  very  elaborate  discussions  on  this  subject. 
In  one  of  them  the  following  positions  are  taken :  That 
by  the  American  railway  system  and  the  bonded  sys- 
tem, the  Canadas  obtained  great  advantages,  having 
constant  communication  with  the  ocean  during  winter, 
by  means  of  these  railways ;  and  if  these  were  closed,  the 
only  thing  left  would  be  to  resort  to  the  old  method  of 
importing  and  exporting  by  the  St.  Lawrence,  closed, 
as  it  is,  for  many  months  in  the  year.  This  would  be 
felt  particularly  by  the  upper  provinces.  The  abroga- 
tion of  the  treaty  would  also  affect  the  lower  provinces. 
Thus,  New-Brunswick,  which,  in  18G2,  sold  goods  to 
the  United  States  of  the  value  of  $830,000,  purchased 
of  actual  necessaries  $2,000,000,  of  which  tea  was  a 
large  item,  paying  the  difference  in  cash,  because  ours 
was  the  cheapest  country  for  her  to  buy  in.  Nova 
Scotia,  which  has  sent  already  in  the  present  year 
about  200,000  tons  of  coal  to  the  United  States — with- 
out which  the  price  of  illuminating  gas  would  Lave 
been  doubled  in  all  our  principal  cities — her  whole  ex- 
ports thither  being  about  $2,000,000,  purchased,  in 
1862,  goods  to  the  value  of  $3,800,000,  such,  too,  as 
she  could  not  readily  obtain  from  England,  and  ex- 
ported to  the  United  States  $1,800,000,  the  difference 
in  cash. 

With  regard,  also,  to  the  fishery  question,  it  may  be 
said  that  while,  under  the  old  treaty,  the  Americans 


'f, 


'I 


imnsv 


35 

had  tlie  general  right  of  fishing  on  the  Grand  Banks 
of  Newfoundland,  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  all 
other  places  where  the  fisheries  were  carried  on,  never- 
theless innumerable  difficulties  arose  as  to  the  distance 
from  the  coasts  where  the  right  could  be  exercised, 
and  vessels  of  war  were  often  called  to  the  fishing  sta- 
tions to  prevent  actual  collisions  arising  out  of  conflict- 
ing claims. 

The  convention  of  1818,  previously  referred  to,  en- 
larged these  privileges  by  distinctly  naming  the  places 
where  the  American  fishermen  might  pursue  their  avo- 
cations ;  and  they  were  allowed  to  dry  their  fish  on  the 
southern  coast  of  Newfoundland,  and  to  enter  harbors 
and  bays  for  shelter  and  supplies,  but  they  were  not 
allowed  to  cast  their  lines  within  three  miles  of  the 
shore. 

Out  of  this  last  provision  difficulties  arose  from  the 
interpretation  given  to  it  by  the  Provincials,  that  the 
line  of  the  right  was  one  to  be  drawn  from  one  head- 
land to  another. 

^.11  these  disagreements  were  settled  by  the  Treaty 
of  lleciprocity,  and  vessels  of  war  are  no  longer  re- 
quired on  the  fishing  stations  to  keep  the  peace.  The 
abrogation  of  the  treaty  would  most  probably  revive 
all  the  old  misunderstandings,  and  the  fisheries  them- 
selves would  be  less  productive  and  less  convenient 
than  they  now  are.  This  is  a  point  to  be  considered, 
as  bearing  directly  on  the  subject  of  its  abrogation. 
Without  the  present  arrangement  our  fishermen  would 
be  driven  out  of  the  Bay  of  Chaleur  and  other  teeming 
inlets,  which  are  within  the  formerly  prescribed  limits 
of  three  miles. 


'    < 


86 


This  question  is  one  of  great  importance,  and  has  al- 
ways been  considered  such  by  our  most  distinguished 
public  men. 

Mr.  Adams  said,  in  1814,  that  he  would  continue  the 
war  with  England  forever  rather  than  give  up  these 
sea  fisheries ;  and  the  system  of  bounty  has  been  con- 
tinued against  all  opposition,  under  the  conviction  that 
the  fisheries  not  only  increased  our  wealth,  but  gave  us 
defenders  against  any  maritime  foe — defenders  whose 
bravery  was  invincible,  and  whose  triumphs  are  the 
glory  of  their  country. 

On  the  whole,  then,  the  Committee  has  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  large  majority  of  the  people  of 
British  North  America,  as  well  as  of  the  States  most 
interested  in  the  subject,  are  in  favor  of  a  renewal  and 
modification  of  the  Reciprocity  Treaty,  in  order  to  re- 
tain its  benefits. 

But,  let  a  broader  view  be  taken  of  the  subject ;  let 
the  precise  and  particular  balance  of  trade  be  the  one 
way  or  the  other,  there  are  considerations  which  this 
Committee  may  offer  with  peculiar  propriety  for  pre- 
serving the  present  arrangement  in  some  form  or  other. 
The  interests,  and  the  promotion  of  the  interests  of 
commerce,  have  been  the  constant  study  of  the 
Chamber  from  its  origin,  and  the  distinguished  men 
who  have  gone  before  us  have,  from  first  to  last,  faith- 
fully performed  their  duties  as  merchants  and  patriots. 
On  all  important  questions  like  the  present,  they  have 
always  been  heard  with  attention  and  respect,  and  their 
counsels  have  had  a  large  and  deserved  influence  at  the 
seat  of  government  in  the  halls  of  Congress.  We  may, 
at  least,  say  this  of  our  predecessors,  if  not  of  our- 
selves. 


87 


Commerce  is  one  of  the  ends  of  national  power,  en- 
tering largely  into  its  composition,  being  almost  synony- 
mous with  civilization,  a  study  worthy  of  the  pro- 
foundest  statesman,  and  one  always  a  necessity  for  the 
consideration  and  the  wise  action  of  legislators.  To  pro- 
mote commerce,  seems  then  to  be  the  duty  of 
those  who  wish  prosperity  to  the  human  family,  and 
when  it  comes  nearest  to  freedom  of  intercourse  and 
equality  in  its  regulations,  it  is  nearest  perfection. 

When  the  necessities  of  nations  require  the  levying 
of  duties  to  any  extent,  and  such  necessities  are  unfor- 
tunately found  to  exist  every  where,  the  government 
which  imposes  them  lays  the  heaviest  burthens  on  its 
own  people. 

Yet,  with  every  restriction  rendered  necessary  for 
the  support  of  governments,  commerce  goes  on,  ad- 
justing itself  with  patience,  ingenuity  and  confidence 
to  the  obstacles  in  its  way,  and  extending  itself  over 
all  seas  and  all  countries  with  untiring  hope  and  cease- 
less energy. 

If  this  be  so,  is  there  any  propriety  in  our  seeking 
trade  even  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth,  and  rejecting 
that  which  lies  at  our  own  doors  ? 

We  are  trading  with  many  foreign  nations  under  old 
commercial  conventions,  not  at  all  in  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  but  we  submit  to  this  state  of  things  under  many 
disadvantages,  with  heavy  foreign  tariffs  on  our  natu- 
ral products,  as  well  as  those  of  the  mill,  the  forge,  the 
mine,  the  workshop ;  yet,  notwithstanding,  we  are  still 
able  to  compete  with  every  rival.  Shall  we  break  off 
our  trade  with  Spain,  or  England,  or  France,  because 
they  impose  heavy  duties  on  our  products,  or  because 


1 


38 

uhey  have  at  times  shown  an  unfriendly  spirit  towards 
our  free  institutions  ?  If  we  do  not  design  to  discontinue 
our  intercourse  with  them  on  either  of  these  accounts, 
shall  we  refuse,  on  that  account,  to  trade  with  these 
British  provinces? 

To  secure  the  stability  of  commerce,  treaties,  con- 
ventions and  embassies  are  all  employed,  and  war  itself 
is,  in  some  cases,  a  sad  and  indispensable  agent ;  but, 
when  our  purpose  can  be  attained  in  the  cheap  and 
simple  way  of  reciprocity,  should  we,  as  the  friends  of 
humanity,  throw  away  the  opportunity  of  a  peaceful 
adjustment  ? 

In  order  to  retain  the  trade  of  Central  America,  we 
maintain  diplomatic  relations  with  no  less  than  five 
small  states,  neither  of  whose  commerce  is  as  large  or 
as  valuable  as  that  we  enjoy  with  the  Canadas ;  and  this 
last  is,  in  these  respects,  absolutely  inexpensive,  and 
maintained  without  the  necessity  of  any  sach  costly  ar- 
rangements. With  many  European  countries,  where 
our  commerce  is  but  trifling,  we  are  also  in  the  practice 
of  maintaining  expensive  legations. 

This  opportunity  now  offers.  Across,  and  far  beyond 
a  remarkable  natural  chain  of  lakes  and  rivers,  which 
seems  to  be  rather  a  bond  than  a  barrier,  there  is  a 
country  to  which  we  wish  well,  as  our  fathers  did.  Its 
institutions  assimilate  to  ours,  and,  if  not  entirely  so,  it 
is  its  own  business.  In  the  largest  degree,  the  popula- 
tion has  with  us  a  common  ancestry,  and  such  portions 
of  it  as  have  not,  may  find  among  us  great  numbers  of 
their  own  language  and  creed,  who  have  found  here 
their  preferred  home. 

These  coincidences  favor  our  commercial  relations. 


■^!H 


39 

The  language  of  our  traffic  and  its  regulations  is  iden- 
tical, and  an  immense  advantage  in  itself. 

We  are  the  nearest  of  all  neighbors,  our  products 
much  alike,  with  the  further  advantage  on  our  part 
that  we  can  furnish  an  immense  variety  of  fabrics  which 
they  need,  and  cannot  as  yet  produce  for  themselves. 
Our  position  on  the  Atlantic,  with  our  ever-open  ports, 
and  our  extensive  connections  with  the  whole  world 
seaward,  enable  us  to  supply  them,  even  in  the  depth 
of  winter  with  every  useful  article,  whether  from  the 
temperate  or  tropical  climates.  In  return,  we  offer 
them  their  best  and  nearest  markets — great  cities  on 
the  lakes,  greater  cities  on  the  ocean,  where  capital  is 
always  ready  for  the  purchase  of  their  products.  In  this 
they  have  an  advantage  which  is  not  begrudged  them. 

While  Montreal,  the  greatest  town  in  Canada,  is  but 
in  itself  a  port  of  limited  power,  Boston  and  New-York 
could,  at  any  time,  absorb  in  a  day,  if  necessary,  all  the 
surplus  produce  of  the  two  provinces.  Certainly,  such 
customers  are  not  ensily  found  ^elsewhere  on  this  conti- 
nent. 

Looking  at  these  lakes— the  Mediterranean  of  the 
North — so  ingeniously  connected  by  the  enterprise  of 
man,  that  they  have  become  almost  one,  and  noticing 
how  far  into  the  interior  their  cheap  and  abundant  na- 
vigation extends,  it  would  seem  like  shutting  our  eyes 
to  the  gifts  of  Providence,  bestowed  in  this  magnificent 
and  useful  form,  if,  by  any  short-sighted  or  narrow 
policy,  we  should  close  them  against  further  progress. 
It  would  seem  the  part  of  extreme  folly,  if,  after  con- 
structing so  many  iron  paths  to  these  reservoirs,  which 
collect  from  every  bay  and  inlet  on  their  shores  the 


40 


1? 


I 


materials  for  inland  distribution  or  foreign  consump- 
tion, we  shall  close  them  now. 

At  some  future  day  the  population  of  the  provinces 
will  be  large,  that  of  Canada  being  at  present  not  equal 
to  that  of  the  State  of  New- York.  When  the  confed- 
eration is  established,  the  total  number  will  be  large 
enough  to  make  it  respectable  among  the  nations,  and 
the  lakes  must,  from  the  nature  of  things,  by  their  posi- 
tion and  capacity,  be  the  seat  of  a  great  internal  com- 
merce. It  is  clearly  the  interest,  if  it  is  not  the  destiny, 
of  the  people  who  are  to  inhabit  their  northern  and 
southern,  their  eastern  and  western  shores,  to  be  on 
the  best  terms  with  each  other.  The  idea  of  those 
peaceful  waters  ever  again  becoming  the  scene  of  naval 
combats,  should  not  be  entertained,  and  the  surest  way 
to  prevent  its  realization,  and  to  save  the  millions 
otherwise  necessary  for  their  defence,  is  to  encourage 
reciprocity  in  trade,  with  the  largest  practicable  range 
and  scope  compatible  with  the  actual  necessities  of 
Government. 

We  certainly  may  point  to  the  advantages  of  free- 
trade  am.ong  ourselves.  It  is  ascertained  that  commo- 
dities are  annually  exchanged  between  the  East  and  the 
West,  chiefly  by  the  restricted  transportation  force  of 
railways,  to  the  extent  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dol- 
lars. Duties  on  these  articles,  levied  by  each  State  on 
their  transit,  would  render  this  interchange  almost  im- 
practicable. 

Considering  the  propinquity  of  the  British  provinces, 
it  is  evident  that  their  nearness  might  do  as  much  for 
them,  under  certain  contingencies,  as  the  United  States 
have  done  for  each  other.     The  nearer  they  approach 


41 


to  our  own  internal  system  of  trade,  the  better  it  will 

be  for  them. 

The  great  western  States  of  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Michi- 
gan and  Ohio  are  specially  desirous  of  maintaining  friend- 
ly relations  with  the  Canadas.  New-York,  by  its  Erie  and 
Champlain  Canals,  has  done  for  Canada  more,  in  some 
respects,  than  Canada  has  ever  been  able  to  do  for  her- 
self The  lake  ports  have,  in  consequence,  also  become 
great  cities.  Chicago,  at  the  head  of  lake  navigation, 
in  twenty-seven  years,  has  grown  from  a  city  of  4,170 
to  169,372,  increasing  hitherto  at  the  rate  of  264  per 
cent.  The  Board  of  Trade  of  that  city's  report  for  the 
present  year,  gives  the  numbers  and  tonnage  of  the 
vessels  plying  between  it  and  the  lake  ports,  as  follows, 
viz. : 

Side-wheel  steamers, 

Propellers, 

Barks, 

Brigs, 

Schooners, "^^^ 

Totals, "^  223,827^ 

But  even  this  large  tonnage,  which  Chicago  employs 
in  i  -,  own  particular  trade,  is  not  one  half  of  the  whole 
Aff^e-  .can  fleet  upon  the  lakes.     In  1862  it  consisted  of 
66  side-wheel  steamers ; 
122  propellers; 
132  tugs; 
60  barks ; 
75  brigs ; 
908  schooners— -1,363  vessels  in  all, 

or  361,997  tons,  valued  at  $11,334,100,  while  the  Ca- 


Ton*. 

5 

3,315 

68 

37,535 

92 

52,193 

49 

15,190 

400 

115,82'7 

I? 
1 1 


M^ 


I 


42 

nadian  tonnage  was  88,896  tons,  in  367  vessels—the 
steamers  and  propellers  being  one-third  only  of  the 
number  of  similar  American  craft.  If  we  add,  how- 
ever, the  tonnage  enrolled  both  in  the  lake  and  canal 
trade,  as  given,  in  the  aggregate,  in  the  recent  report 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  without  discrimina- 
tion as  to  the  character  of  the  craft,  the  whole  amount 
for  1863  is  611,398  tons. 

Milwaukie  is  another  of  these  lake  cities,  which,  in 
1850,  had  a  population  of  20  0"i,  and  now  has  more 
than  45,619,  increasing  at  the  r,„.  of  127  per  cent,  in 
the  decade. 

In  1862  the  imports  into  Milwaukie  from  Canada 
were  but  $4,400,  of  which  $3,000  was  in  horses,  while 
the  exports  to  Canada  in  that  year  were  of  the  value 
of  $2,500,000,  $1,600,000  being  carried  in  American 
bottoms. 

Detroit,  which,  in  1850,  had  a  population  of  21,019, 
in  1860  had  increased  to  45,619,  at  the  rate  of  117  per 
cent. 

Cleveland,  in  1850,  numbered  17,034;  in  1860, 
43,417  ;  having  increased  at  the  rate  of  154  per  cent. 

Buffalo,  in  the  first-named  year,  with  the  exclusive 
advantage  of  being  at  the  head  of  canal  navigation, 
contained  42,261  inhabitants,  and  in  1860,  81,129,  the 
rate  of  increase  having  been  91  per  cent.,  much  less, 
it  will  be  perceived,  than  that  of  the  cities  already 
mentioned. 

From  Detroit,  Milwaukie,  Chicago  and  Cleveland  ves- 
sels have  repeatedly  made  foreign  voyages ;  and  regu- 
larly every  year,  for  some  years  past,  a  Norwegian  bai'k 
m  akes  its  appearanc  at  the  wharves  of  Chicago,  and 


43 


, 


emigrants  arrive  in  it  for  a  flourishing  colony  of  Nor- 
wegians in  its  neighborhood.  Nor  is  it  occasional  only, 
for,  since  1856,  43  vessels  cleared  from  Chicago,  De- 
troit and  Cleveland  for  England,  Spain,  Hamburg,  Nor- 
way, Scotland  and  Ireland,  of  15,100  tons  ;  aijd  31  re- 
turned, of  the  tonnage  of  11,260  tons — the  difference 
being  in  the  amount  sold  in  foreign  ports.  The  phi- 
losophic observer,  in  all  this,  sees  the  wondrous  differ- 
ence between  men  of  the  new  world  and  the  old  in  the 
disposition  of  their  material  forces,  the  rapidity  of  their 
movement,  and  the  success  of  their  application.  Chi- 
cago, an  unknown  place  only  one  generation  since,  is 
now  a  larger  city  than  Marseilles,  the  third  in  size  of 
France,  and  having,  at  the  last  published  census,  only 
146,239  inhabitants,  though  it  has  had  for  centuries  the 
trade  of  the  Mediterranean  at  its  command,  and  has 
been  a  commercial  town  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years.  Genoa,  the  superb,  as  it  is  proudly  styled  by 
the  Italians,  situated  on  a  part  of  the  same  great  waters, 
and  long  famous  for  its  port,  has  but  115,257  inhabi- 
tants; Trieste  but  90,000;  and  Barcelona,  a  Spanish 
port  on  the  Mediterranean,  celebrated,  even  in  the 
middle  ages,  for  its  commerce,  and  the  most  populous  of 
all  the  cities  on  that  sea,  notwithstanding  its  great  anti- 
quity, contains,  according  to  some  accounts,  but  70,000 
more  inhabitants  than  Chicago,  and,  according  to  others, 
not  so  many,  though  the  latter  is  yet  in  its  infancy. 

It  is  a  singular  and  cliaracteristic  circumstance  that, 
while  a  large  body  of  scientific  Europeans  have  recently 
turned  their  attention  to  the  discovery  and  description 
of  submerged  and  sunken  towns  and  villages,  in  the 
lakes  and  on  the  coasts  of  Europe,  finding  the  most  in- 


44 


%'• 


I 


fi 


tense  satisfaction  in  their  researches  after  these  relics  of 
past  barbarity  and  wretchedness,  we  in  this  country 
have  our  attention  more  agreeably  directed  to  the  great, 
prosperous  and  teeming  cities  rising  up  everywhere  on 
the  shores  of  our  beautiful  inland  waters,  full  of  life 
and  happiness,  with  ships,  and  brigs,  and  steamers  be- 
longing to  them,  and  in  the  aggregate  of  more  than 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  tons. 

And  here  the  Committee  cannot  help  contrasting 
American  progress  with  the  dull  and  halting  pace  of 
the  old  world. 

While  Europe  and  Asia  look  back  on  their  antiquity 
with  great  complacency,  resting  on  that  their  principal 
claims  to  veneration,  (with  the  exception  of  Russia, 
perhaps,)  they  Jiave  no  future.  That  is  unquestiona- 
bly left  for  this  country  and  this  people  almost  ex- 
clusively to  occupy.  Their  glory,  their  wealth,  their 
power  have  culminated.  Our  zenith  is  not  yet  at- 
tained. It  would  seem  as  if  the  Great  Ruler  of  events, 
in  opening  this  continent  for  a  new  race  of  men,  with 
new  interests  and  larger  scope  for  civilization,  had  offered 
to  humanity  and  progress  their  last  and  greatest  oppor- 
tunity ;  and  it  is  devoutly  hoped  that,  notwithstanding 
the  temporary  interruption  of  these  grand  designs  by 
a  wicked  and  causeless  rebellion,  they  will  not  be  over- 
thrown. 

It  appears,  therefore,  to  the  Committee,  that  any 
measures  which  should  in  the  least  jeopard  the  pro- 
gress of  these  lake  cities,  which  have  greatly  advanced 
since  1854,  should  be  regarded  with  extreme  caution. 

But  there  is  another  view  of  this  subject,  and,  per- 
haps, as  important.     An  abrogation  of  the  Reciprocity 


45 

Treaty  may  involve  the  loss  of  the  use  of  the  Welland 
and  St.  Lawrence  Canals,  or,  at  least,  under  some  con- 
tingencies, make  it  costly,  by  the  imposition  of  such 
discriminating  tolls  as  to  compel  the  American  lake 
bottoms  to  seek  the  relief  of  colonial  registry.     If  the 
reciprocity  arrangement  entirely  falls,  we  may  expect 
the  whole  advantage  gained  from  the  free  navigation  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  will  fall  with  it.    In  this  case,  the  pro- 
ducers  in  the  West,   the  great  agricultural  interests 
there,  will  be  excluded  from  a  natural  and  cheap  out- 
let they  now  possess,  and  be  driven  entirely  to  rely  on 
our  canals,  which,  great  and  magnificent  as  they  are, 
are  declared  to  be  choked  up  with  business  already, 
and  require  enlargement,  at  an  enormous  expense,  to 
do  the  transportation  pressed  upon  them.     If  the  New- 
York  canals  are  already  worked  up  to  their  capacity, 
then  it  is  obviously  beneficial  to  us  to  retain  any  other 
channels  of  transit  that  may  be  within  our  reach ;  and 
it  is  for  the  interest,  as  it  is  the  right  of  the  cereal  and 
other  crop  producers  in  the  West,  to  have,  not  only  a 
domestic  market,  but  a  foreign  one  near  their  own 
boundaries,  which  costs  nothing  but  an  intelligent  appre- 
ciation, and  a  proper  commercial  use  of  them. 

Summing  up  the  whole  of  the  facts  and  opinions 
briefly  represented  in  this  report,  the  results  appear  to 

be  these : 

1.  That  our  trade  with  the  British  provinces,  even 
after  it  was  permitted,  was  formerly  conducted  under 
great  disadvantages,  owing  to  the  restrictive  system 
adopted  by  the  English  Government,  to  the  discomfort 
and  injury  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  as  well 
as  of  Canada. 


46 


I 


2.  That  by  just  reprisals  on  our  part,  and  also  by  the 
necessities  which  arose  out  of  the  construction  of  the 
internal  improvements  in  the  Canadas,  the  British  Gov- 
ernment relaxed  its  system  and  opened  its  ports  to  our 
trade,  which  thereupon  swelled  to  twenty  and  a  half 
millions  of  dollars  with  the  provinces. 

3.  That  on  the  adoption  of  the  reciprocity  system, 
in  1854,  it  advanced  with  still  more  rapid  strides,  as 
the  tables  clearly  demonstrate. 

4.  That  the  objections  to  the  treaty  are  without  any 
solid  basis,  or  are,  or  may  be,  compensated  for  in  va- 
rious ways. 

5.  That  the  additional  duties  laid  on  our  manufac- 
tured imports  into  Canada  are  still  moderate,  and  are  for 
revenue  purposes  only;  and  that,  with  our  own  presen- 
high  tariff,  we  are  the  last  persons  who  have  a  right  to 
complain  of  any  similar  procedure ;  and  that,  notwith- 
standing the  provincial  duties,  our  manufacturers  find 
a  large  outlet  in  that  direction. 

6.  That  the  debenture  system,  as  mainly  effected, 
in  1847,  by  the  untiring  exertions  of  J.  Phillips 
Phcenix  in  Congress,  a  most  worthy  and  able  member 
of  this  Chamber,  has  been  of  immense  service  to  our 
interior  lines  of  communication,  canals  and  railways ; 
and  is  an  essential  aid  to  the  other  commerce  of  the 
country  by  sea,  and  should  not  be  repealed. 

7.  Tliat  while  in  some  details  the  treaty  may  be 
improved,  yet  there  is  enough  of  advantage  in  it  to 
have  it  preserved  in  its  essential  points,  with  but  a  few 
modifications. 

8.  That  to  throw  away  the  existing  commerce  we 
possess  under  the  treaty,  which,  in  the  aggregate  since 


47 


1854,  amounts  to  upwards  of  $300,000,000,  is  to  ignore 
the  existence  of  a  great  country  on  our  borders,  our 
commerce  with  which  is  more  secure  from  maritime 
dangers  than  any  other  we  possess ;  and  to  retire  from 
the  full  use  of  the  great  lakes  and  rivers  emptying  into 
the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  their  natural  outlet,  would 
be  an  act  of  very  doubtful  policy,  if  not  positive 
injury. 

9.  That  whatever  smuggling  now  exists  would  be 
increased  by  a  more  restrictive  system,  which  would 
require  the  maintenance  of  an  expensive  naval  force. 

10.  That,  as  the  people  of  the  Canadian  provinces 
have  shown  an  anxiety  to  retain  their  commercial  in- 
tercourse with  this  country,  as  evidenced  by  the  acts  of 
their  agents,  their  merchants  and  the  managers  of  their 
great  lines  of  railways,  deriving  their  largest  support 
from  American  production,  and  as  they  are  willing 
to  make  further  concessions  on  their  part,  in  return  for 
concessions  on  ours,  it  is  our  policy,  as  well  as  our  duty, 
to  meet  them  in  a  corresponding  spirit. 

The  Committee  cannot,  therefore,  but  recommend 
the  renewal  of  the  Reciprocity  Treaty,  with  such  just 
and  liberal  modifications  as  may  render  it  still  more 
advantageous  to  the  parties  in  interest.  The  Chamber 
has,  on  two  former  occasions,  expressed  itself  in  favor 
of  enlarging  its  stipulations,  so  that  the  provinces  may 
have  the  privilege  of  registry  and  the  coasting  trade, 
for  which,  perhaps,  the  extension  of  the  free  list  to  our 
manufactures  might  be  returned  as  an  equivalent. 

The  Committee,  therefore,  conclude,  that  the  policy 
hitherto  recommended  by  this  Chamber,  in  relation  to 


48 

this  question,  should  be  maintained,  being  founded  on 
sound  commercial  principles,  and  being  conducive  to 
the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  parties  in  interest. 

All  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

S.  De  Witt  Bloodgood, 
Richard  P.  Buck, 
Prosper  M.  Wetmore, 
Walter  S.  Griffith. 

Kew-York,  December  21,  1864 


m 


Extract  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  at  a  Meet- 
ing held  January  5th,  1865. 

Mr.  S.  Dk  Witt  Bloot^oood,  on  bobalf  of  the  Committee  to  con- 
sidcr  the  Reciprocity  Treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
submitted  a  written  report,  which  was  laid  upon  the  table,  and  it  was 
ordered  that  it  be  printed  for  the  use  of  the  members,  and  that  it  be 
considered  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  Chamber,  on  Thursday,  the 
19th  day  of  January,  instant. 


Extract  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  at  a  Spe^ 
cial  Meeting,  held  January  19th,  1865. 

Mr.  S.  Db  Witt  Bloodgood,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Reciprocity  Treaty  with  Canada,  stated  that  the  report,  which  was 
voluminous,  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  printer,  but  that  he  had 
hopes  that  it  would  be  ready  for  the  next  regular  meeting. 

The  President  stated  that  further  consideration  of  the  subject  Avould 
therefore,  be  postponed. 

Attest, 

John  Austin  Stkvkns,  Jr., 

Secretary. 


49 


3n 
to 
it. 


APPENDIX. 


RECirROCITY  TREATY  BETWEEN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
AND  GREAT  BRITAIN. 

Hku  Majesty,  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  being  equally  de- 
sirous with  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  avoid  fur- 
ther misunderstanding  between  their  respective  subjects  and  citizens, 
in  recrard  to  the  extent  of  the  right  of  fishing  on  the  coasts  of  British 
North  America,  secured  to  each  by  Article  I.  of  a  Convention  be- 
tween  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  signed  at  London  on  the 
20th  day  of  October,  1818,  and  being  also  desirous  to  regulate  the 
commer'ce  and  navigation  between  their  respective  territories  and 
people,  and  more  especially  between  Her  Majesty's  possessions  m 
North  America  and  the  United  States,  in  such  manner  as  to  render 
the  same  reciprocally  beneficial  and  satisfactory,  have  rcBpectively 
named  Plenipotentiaries  to  confer  and  agree  thereupon,  that  is  to  say  : 
Her  Majesty,  the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  James,  Earl  of  Elgin  and  Kincardine,  Lord  Bruce  and  Elgin 
a  Beer  of  the  United  Kingdom,  Knight  of  the  Most  Ancient  and 
Most  Noble  Order  of  the  Thistle,  and  Governor-General  in  and  over 
all  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  BroTinccs  on  the  Contment  of  ^orth 
America,  and  in  and  over  the  Island  of  Prince  Edward ;  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  of  America,  William  L.  Makct,  Sccre  ary 

of  State  of  the  United  States,  who,  after  having  communicated  to 

each  other  their  respective  full  powers,  found  in  good  and  due  form, 

have  agreed  upon  the  following  Articles : 

ARTICLB   I. 

It  is  agreed  by  the  high  contracting  parties,  that  in  addition  to 
the  liberty  secured  to  the  United  States  fishermen  by  the  above  men- 
tioned  Convention  of  October  20,  1818,  of  taking,  curing  and  drying 
fish  on  certain  coasts  of  the  British  North  American  Colonies  therein 
defined,  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  shall  have,  in  common 

A 


I 


4 


-}■ 


50 

^vitli  the  subjects  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  the  liberty  to  take  fish  of 
every  kind,  except  shell-fish,  on  the  sea-coasts  and  shores,  and  in  the 
bays,  harbors  and  creeks  of  Canada,  New-Iininswick,  Nova  Scotia, 
Prince  Edward's  Island,  and  of  the  several  islands  thereunto  adjacent, 
without  being  restricted  to  any  distance  from  the  shore;  with  per- 
mission to  land  upon  the  coasts  and  shores  of  those  Colonics  and  the 
islands  thereof,  and  also  upon  the  ^fagdalen  Islands,  for  the  purpose 
of  drying  their  nets  and  curing  their  fish  :  provided,  that  in  so  doing 
they  do  not  interfere  with  the  rights  of  private  property  or  British 
fishermen  in  the  peaceable  use  of  any  part  of  the  said  coast  in  their 
occupancy  for  the  same  purpose. 

It  is  understood  that  the  above  mentioned  liberty  applies  solely  to 
the  sea  fishery,  and  that  the  salmon  and  &had  fisheries,  and  all  fish- 
eries in  rivers,  and  the  mouths  of  rivers,  are  hereby  reserved  ex- 
clusively for  British  fishermen. 

And  it  is  further  agreed,  that  in  order  to  prevent  or  settle  any  dis- 
putes as  to  the  places  to  which  the  reservation  of  exclusive  right  to 
British  fishermen  contained  in  this  Article,  and  that  of  fishermen  of 
the  United  States  contained  in  the  next  succeeding  Article,  apply, 
each  of  the  high  contracting  parties,  on  the  application  of  either  to 
the  other,  shall,  within  six  months  thereafter,  appoint  a  Commissioner. 
The  said  Commissioners,  before  proceeding  to  any  business,  shall 
make  and  subscribe  a  solemn  declaration  that  they  will  impartially 
and  carefully  examine  and  decide,  to  the  best  of  their  judgtnont,  and 
according  to  justice  and  equity,  without  fear,  favor  or  affection  to 
their  own  country,  upon  all  such  places  as  are  intended  to  bo  reserved 
and  excluded  from  the  common  liberty  of  fishing  under  this  and  the 
next  succeeding  Article;  and  such  declaration  shall  be  entered  on  the 
record  of  their  proceedings.  The  Commissioners  shall  name  some 
third  person  to  act  as  an  arbitrator  or  umpire  in  any  case  or  cases  on 
which  they  may  themselves  differ  in  opinion.  If  they  should  not  be 
able  to  agree  upon  the  name  of  such  third  person,  they  shall  each 
name  a  person,  and  it  shall  be  determined  by  lot  which  of  the  two 
persons  so  named  shall  be  the  arbitrator  or  umpire  in  cases  of  differ- 
erence  or  disagreement  between  the  Commissioners.  The  person  so 
to  be  chosen  to  be  arbitrator  or  umpire  shall,  before  proceeding  to 
act  as  such  in  any  case,  make  and  subscribe  a  solemn  declaration,  in  a 
form  similar  to  that  which  shall  already  have  been  made  and  subscribed 
by  the  Commissioners,  which  shall  be  entered  on  the  record  of  their  pro- 


i.ih  of 
in  tho 
Icotia, 
jioent, 

pcr- 

the 

rposo 


61 

cccdings.  In  tho  event  of  the  death,  absence  or  incapacity  of  cither 
of  the  Commissioners,  of  the  arbitrator  or  umpire,  or  of  their  or  his 
omitting',  declining  or  ceasing  to  act  as  such  Commissioner,  arbi- 
trator or  umpire,  anotlicr  and  ditForont  person  sliall  be  appointed  or 
named  as  aforesaid  to  act  as  such  Commissioner,  arbitrator  or  umpire, 
in  the  place  and  stead  of  the  person  so  originally  appointed  or  named 
as  aforesaid,  and  shall  make  and  subscribe  such  declaration  as  aforesaid. 

Such  Commissioners  shall  proceed  to  examine  tho  coasts  of  tho 
North  American  Trovinces  and  of  tho  United  States  embraced 
within  the  provisions  of  the  first  and  second  Articles  of  this  treaty, 
and  shall  designate  the  places  reserved  by  tho  said  Articles  from  the 
common  right  of  fishinc  therein. 

The  decision  of  the  Commissioners  and  of  the  arbitrator  or  umpire 
shall  bo  given  in  writing  in  each  case,  and  shall  be  signed  by  them 
respectively. 

The  high  contracting  parties  hereby  solemnly  engage  to  consider 
the  decision  of  tho  Cummissioiiors  conjointly,  or  of  the  arbitrator  or 
umpire,  as  the  ease  may  be,  as  absolutely  final  and  concl  sivc  in  such 
case  decided  upon  by  them  or  him,  respectively. 

ARTICLE    II. 

It  is  agreed  by  the  high  contracting  parties  that  British  subjects 
shall  have,  in  common  with  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  tho  lib- 
erty to  take  fish  of  every  kind,  except  shell-fish,  on  tho  eastern  sea- 
coasts  and  shores  of  the  United  States,  north  of  the  30th  parallel  of 
north  latitude,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  several  islands  thereunto 
adjacent,  and  in  the  bays,  harbors  and  creeks  of  the  said  sea-coasts 
and  shores  of  tho  United  States  and  of  the  said  islands,  without  beinji 
restricted  to  any  distance  from  the  shore,  with  permission  to  land 
upon  the  said  coasts  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  islands  afore- 
said, for  the  purpose  of  drying  their  nets  and  curing  their  fish  ;  pro- 
vided, tiiat  in  so  doing  they  do  not  interfere  with  the  rights  of 
private  property,  or  with  the  fishermen  of  tho  United  States  in  tho 
peaceable  use  of  any  part  of  tho  said  coasts  in  their  occupancy  for 
the  same  purpose. 

It  is  understood  that  the  above  mentioned  liberty  applies  solely  to 
the  sea  fishery,  and  that  salmon  and  shad  fisheries,  and  all  fisheries  in 
rivers  and  mouths  of  rivers  are  hereby  reserved  exclusivel}'  for  fisher- 
men of  the  United  States. 


:  1 
i  1 


!  f 


9% 


i  ;i 


¥ 


52 


ABTICLS  m. 

It  is  agreed  that  the  Articles  enumerated  in  the  Schedule  hereunto 
annexed,  being  the  growth  and  produce  of  the  aforesaid  British  Col- 
onies or  of  the  ITnited  States,  shall  be  admitted  into  each  country 
respectively  free  of  duty : 

SCBEDULS. 

Grain,  flour  and  breadstuffs  of  all  kinds. 

Animals  of  all  kinds. 

Fresh  smoked  and  salted  meats. 

Cotton-wool,  seeds  or  vegetables. 

Undried  fruits,  dried  fruits. 

Fish  of  all  kinds. 

Products  of  fish  and  all  olLer  creatures  living  in  the  water. 

Poultry,  eggs. 

Hides,  furs,  skins  or  tails  undressed. 

Stone  or  marble,  in  its  crude  or  unwrought  state. 

Slate. 

Butter,  cheese,  tallow. 

Lard,  horns,  manures. 

Ores  of  metals  of  all  kinds. 

Coal. 

Pitch,  tar,  turpentine,  ashes. 

Timber  and  lumber  of  all  kinds,  round,  hewed,  sawed,  unmauufat  lured 

in  whole  or  in  part. 
Firewood. 

Plants,  shrubs  and  trees. 
Pelts,  wool. 
Fish-oil. 

Kice,  broom  com  and  bark. 
Gypsum,  ground  or  unground. 
Hewn  or  wrought,  or  unwrought  burr  or  grindstones. 
Dye-stuffs. 

Flax,  hemp  and  tow,  unmanufactured. 
Unmanufactured  tobacco. 
Rags, 

ARTICLE    IV. 

It  is  agreed  that  the  citizens  and  inhabitants  of  the  United  States 
shall  have  the  right  to  navigate  the  liiver  St.  Lawrence  and  the  cuLals 


53 


eunto 

Col- 

untn- 


ured 


.tes 
als 


in  Canada,  used  as  the  means  of  communicating  between  the  great 
lakes  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  with  their  vessels,  boats  an  d  crafts,  as 
fully  and  freely  as  the  subjects  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  subject  only 
to  the  same  tolls  and  other  assessments  as  now  are  or  may  hereafter  be 
exacted  of  Her  Majesty's  said  subjects  ;  it  being  understood,  however, 
that  the  British  Government  retains  the  right  of  suspending  this  privi- 
lege on  giving  due  notice  thereof  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States. 

It  is  further  agreed,  that  if  at  any  time  the  British  Government 
should  exercise  the  said  reserved  right,  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  shall  have  the  right  of  suspending,  if  it  think  fit,  the  operation 
of  Article  III.  of  the  present  treaty  in  so  far  as  the  Province  of  Canada 
is  affected  thereby,  for  so  long  as  the  suspension  of  the  free  naviga- 
tion of  the  River  St.  Lawrence  or  the  canals  may  continue. 

It  is  further  agreed,  that  British  subjects  shall  have  the  right  freely 
to  navigate  Lake  Michigan  with  their  vessels,  boats  and  crafts,  so  long 
as  the  privilege  of  navigating  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  secured  to 
American  citizens  by  the  above  clause  of  the  present  Article,  shall 
continue ;  and  the  Government  of  the  United  States  further  engages 
to  urge  upon  the  State  Governments  to  secure  to  Her  Britannic  Ma- 
jesty the  use  of  the  several  State  canals  on  terms  of  equality  with  the 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States. 

And  it  is  further  agreed,  that  no  export  duty  or  other  duty  shall 
be  levied  on  lumber  or  timber  of  any  kind  cut  on  that  portion  of  the 
American  territory  in  the  State  of  Maine,  watered  by  the  River  St« 
John  and  its  tributaries,  and  floated  down  that  river  to  the  sea,  when 
the  same  is  shipped  to  the  United  States  from  the  Province  of  New- 
Brunswick. 

ARTICLE    V. 

The  present  treaty  shall  take  effect  as  soon  as  the  laws  required  to 
carry  it  into  operation  shall  have  been  passed  by  the  Imperial  Par- 
liament of  Great  Britain,  and  by  the  Provincial  Parliame  its  of  those 
of  the  British  North  American  Colonies  which  are  affected  by  this 
treaty  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  on 
the  other.  Such  assent  havinfj  been  given,  the  treaty  shall  remain  in 
force  for  ten  years  from  the  date  at  which  it  may  come  into  operation, 
and  further,  until  the  expiration  of  twelve  months  <ifter  cither  of  the 
high  contracting  parties  shall  give  notice  to  the  other  of  its  wish  to 
terminate  the   same ;  each  of  the  high  contracting  parties  being  at 


!  i 


i     U: 


1? 


!J    I' 


54 

libcrtv  to  give  such  notice  to  the  other  at  the  end  of  the  said  term  of 
ten  years,  or  at  any  time  afterwards. 

It  is  clearly  understood,  however,  that  this  stipulation  is  not  intend- 
ed to  affect  the  reservation  made  by  Article  IV.  of  the  present  treaty* 
with  regard  to  the  right  of  temporarily  suspending  the  operation  of 
Articles  III.  and  IV.  thereof. 

ARTICLE   VI. 

And  it  is  hereby  further  agreed,  that  the  provisions  and  stipulations 
of  the  foregoing  Articles  shall  extend  to  the  Island  of  Newfoundland, 
so  far  as  they  are  applicable  to  that  colony.  But  if  the  Imperial  Par- 
liament, the  Provincial  Parliament  of  Newfoundland,  or  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  shall  not  embrace  in  their  laws,  enacted  for  car- 
rying this  treaty  into  effect,  the  Colony  of  Newfoundland,  then  this 
Article  shall  be  of  no  effect ;  but  the  omission  to  make  provision  by 
law  to  give  it  effect,  by  either  of  the  legislative  bodies  aforesaid,  shall 
not  in  any  way  impair  the  remaining  Articles  of  this  treaty. 

ARTICLE    VII. 

The  present  treaty  shall  be  duly  ratified,  and  the  mutual  exchange 
of  ratifications  shall  take  place  in  Washington  within  six  months  from 
the  date  hereof,  or  earlier  if  possible. 

In  faith  whereof,  we,  the  respective  Plenipotentiaries,  have  signed 
this  treaty,  and  have  hereunto  affixed  our  seals. 

Done  in  triplicate,  at  Washington,  the  fifth  day  of  June,  Anno 
Domini  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-four. 

(Signed,)  Eloin  &  Kincardine,    [l.  s.] 

W.  L.  Marct,  [l.  s.] 

Certified  copy, 

L.  Oliphant,  Priv,  Sec'y. 


,.!»     ** 


55 


TARIFF  OF  DUTIES  PAYABLE  ON  IMPORTS  INTO 

CANADA, 
Ddbing  the  Years  1854  and  1863. 

Duties  apply  to  all  imports,  irrespective  of  where  imported,  unless 

specially  mentioned. 

1863.  1864. 

All  goods  not  hereinafter  enumerated,  20  per  cent.  12^  per  cent. 

A. 

Acids  of  every  description,  except  Vin-  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^ 

All! So;  ;;dP;;t;;;.V.V.V.V.;*  *.'.'.   so  per  cent.  l4  per  c-t. 

Almonds,  and  Nuts  of  all  kinds, 20  per  cent.  2c.  per  lb 

1                                      Free  2A-  per  cent. 

Alum,  unground, ^^^^-  ^  t- 

Anatomical  Preparations, Free.  ^ree. 

Anchors,  G  cwt.  and  under, 10  per  cent.  Free. 

.^.                 /.       4.                                   Froe  tree. 

Ditto,  over  6  cwt., ^rcu 

Animals,  of  all  kinds, Free.  *•  re' • 

7    .                                                           Free  1 2, V  per  cent. 

Antimony, ^'^^^'  „  "  ' 

...          u    L-          e                        Frpe  Iree. 

Ar'iquities,  collections  of, ^ree. 

Apparel,  wearing,  of  British  subjects 

;  .        1       J                                        Free.  Irec. 

dvintr  abroad, ^^lu 

,    ^    °                                       Free.  12^  per  cent. 

^'■8^^' ;■•;•■', Free  Free. 

Ash,  pot,  pearl  and  soda, ^  ret. 

.    Atlases,:.. 16  per  cent.  12^  per  cent. 

B. 

?                                          Free  Free. 

Bark,  tanners', ^^'^^- 

Bark,  used  solely  in  dyeing, Free.  ^ree. 

Barley,  except  pot  and  pearl Free.  ree. 

,r    1                                             Free  Free. 

^-^«y^^^^^ Free  Free. 

^'^'^\'-' F,,;  Free. 

Bean  Meal, *'^^^' 

1  -n-                                            Free.  tree. 

Bear  and  Bigg ^'°^' 


li 


HI 


Hi 


«    i 


56 


1863. 

Bear  and  Bigg  Meal, Free. 

Beer, 20  per  cent. 

Berries,  used  solely  in  dyeing, Free. 

Blacking, 30  per  cent. 

Bleaching  Powder, Free. 

Blue,  ultramarine  and  paste, 20  per  cent. 

Books,  being  re-printa  of  British  copy- 
right works,  12^  per  cent.  See 
clause,* Free. 

Books,  printed,  all  kinds,  except  copy- 
rights and  books  in  course  of  print- 
ing in  Canada, Free. 

Boots  and  Shoes,  (leather,) 25  per  cent. 

Book,  Map  and  News  Printing  Paper,  15  per  cent. 

Bibles,  Testaments  and  Devotional 
Books, Free. 

Binnacle  Lamps, Free. 

Bottles,  containing  wine,  spirituous  or 
fermented  liquors  of  Officers'  Mess,  Free. 

Boiler  Plate, 10  per  cent. 

Bolting  Cloths, Free. 

Borax, Free. 

Bookbinders'  Tools  and  Implements,.   Free. 

Brandy, 30  per  cent. 

Brandy,  for  Officers'  Mess, Free. 

Brimstone, Free. 

Bran  and  Shorts, Free. 

Brass,  in  bars,  rods  and  sheets, 20  per  cent. 

Brass  Tubes  and  Piping,  when  drawn,  10  per  cent. 

Brass  or  Copper  Wire  and  Wire  Cloth,  10  per  cent. 

Brass,  in  scraps, Free. 

Bristles Free. 

Broom  Corn, Free. 

Buckwheat, Free. 

Buckwheat  Meal, Free. 


18S4 

Free. 

12^  per  cent- 
Free. 
12^  per  cent. 

2^-  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 


12^  per  cent 

F'ee. 

12^  per  cent. 
2^  per  cent. 

Free. 

12|^  per  cent. 

Free. 

2|-  per  cent. 
12^-  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 
Free. 

GOc.  per  gal. 
Free. 

2A-  per  cent. 
Free. 

2^-  per  cent. 

2}  per  cent. 
\^\  per  cent. 
12^  per  cent. 
Free. 
Free. 
Free. 
Free. 


•  Clausb. — XXII.  Vic  ,  Cap.  II.,  Sec.  2.—"  But  this  act  shall  not  affect  cap. 
6/ or  ony  duty  imposed  under  the  Copyright  Act,  13  and  14  Vic,  of  it" 


57 

1863. 

Bulbs  and  Roots,  other  than  medicinal,  Free. 

T,  11    „  Free. 

Bullion, 

Burr  Stones,  wrought  or  unwrought, 

but  not  bound  up  into  mill-stones,.  Free. 

-,  .^  Free. 

Butter, 

T,     . .  Free. 

Buntmg, 

C. 

Cabinets  of  Coins, F''^^'- 

Cables,  Iron  Chain,  over  f  of  an  inch 

,.       .  „  Free. 

diameter, 

Cables,  other  than  chains, Free. 

Cables,  hemp, !^'^*^^- 

Cables,  grass, *^^®- 

Cameos  and  Mosaics,  real  or  imitation, 

when  set  in  gold,  silver,  or    other 

,1  ...   10  per  cent, 

metal, *^ 

Canada  Plates,  Tinned  Plates,  Galvan- 
ized and  Sheet  Iron, 10  per  cent 

Caoutchouc,  or  India  Rubber,  and  Gutta 
Pcrcha,  unmanufactured, Free. 

Canvas,  Sail,  Nos.  1  to  6, Free. 

Carriages  of  travellers,  and  Carriages 
employed  in  carrying  merchandise, 
(hawkers  and  circus  troops  excepted,)  Free. 

Casks,  Ships'  Water,  in  use, Free. 

Cement,  Marine  or  Hydraulic,  unground.  Free. 

Cement    Hydraulic,    ground  and   cal- ^^     ^^^^^^^ 
cincd, ^ 

Charts,'  Maps,  and  Atlases, 10  per  cent. 

Charitable  Societies,  donations  of  cloth- 
in^T  for  gratuitous  distribution  by,. .  Free. 

^,    °     ,  Free. 

Charcoal, 

40  per  cent. 

^!^     ' 30  per  cent. 

Cinnamon, '^ 

Z,         ,  20  per  cent. 

Clays,  Earths,  and  Ochres,  dry, Free. 


1854. 

Free. 
Free. 

Free. 
Free. 
Free. 


Free. 

Free. 

2^  per  cent. 
Free. 
Free. 


12^  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 

Free. 
Free. 


Free. 
Free. 
Free. 

Free. 
Free. 
Free. 

Free. 

2^  per  cent. 
40c.  per  lb. 

5c.  per  lb. 

l^c.  per  lb. 
Free. 


!l^ 


58 


1863. 


iigj 


I' Si 


Compasaes, Free, 

Cordage,  (but  which,  upon  importation, 

shall  have  paid  the  duty  of  customs, 

shall  be  entitled  to  drawback  under 

the  8th  sec,  22  Vic,  chap.  76,  when 

applied  to   ship-building    purposes, 

and  under  such  regulations  as  the 

Governor  in  Council  may  make,) . . . 
Clothing,  or  Wearing  Apparel,  made  by 

hand  or  sewing  machine, 25  per  cent. 

Coal, Free. 

Cochineal, Free. 

Coffee,  green, 3c.  per  lb.,  and  5  per  cent. 

Coffee,  ground  or  roasted,  3c.  pr.  lb., 

and 30  per  cent. 

Coke, Free. 

Commissariat  Stores, Free. 

Confectionery, 3c.  per  lb,,  and  15  per  cent. 

Copper  Tubes  and  Piping,  when  drawn,  10  per  cent. 
Copper,  in  bars,  rods,  bolts  or  sheets, 

and  Yell,  Metal, 10  per  cent. 

Copper,  pig, Free. 

Copperas, Free. 

Corkwood,   or  the  bark  of  the  cork- 
wood tree, Free. 

Corn,  Indian, Free. 

Cotton  Waste, Free. 

Cotton  Wool, Free. 

Cotton  Candle  wick, 10  per  cent. 

Cotton  Yarn, 10  per  cent. 

Cotton  Warp, 10  per  cent. 

Cordials, 100  per  cent. 

Cream  of  Tartar,  in  crystals, Free. 

Coin  and  Bullion, Free. 

Cocoa  N  ut  Oil,  (See  Oils,) Free. 

Cranks,  wrought  iron, 20  per  cent. 


1864. 

Free. 


20  per  cent.      12^  per  cent. 


12|-  per  cent. 
Free. 

2^  per  cent. 

Ic.  per  lb. 

3  c.  per  lb. 
Free. 
Free. 

12|^  percent. 
12^  per  cent. 

Free. 
Free. 
2^  per  cent. 

Free. 
Free. 
Free. 
Free. 

2^  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 
80c.  per  gal. 
Free. 
Free. 
Free. 

2^  per  cent. 


59 
D. 

1863.  1854. 

...  Free.  m  per  <=<^°*- 

Deadliyes, ^  ^^^^^  12^  per  cent. 

Dead  Lights, ^^^^  ^2^  per  cent. 

Deck  Plugs • •  YvQe. 

Diamonds  and  Precious  Stones, *  ree. 

Dried  Fruit,  the  growth  of  the  United 

States  only,  while  Reciprocity  Treaty  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^ 

is  in  force, ^    '       ^.  ikpnerlb. 

Dried  Fruit,  from  other  countries,  ...   20  per  cent.       ^1  .c.  pe 

Drugs,  used  solely  for  dyeing, •   i'ree. 

Dye°  Stuffs;    namely,    berries,    bark, 

drugs,  nuts,  and  vegetables,  woods,  ^^^^ 

and  extracts  of  logwood, ^^^  •  ^^^^ 

Drain  Tiles,  for  agricultural  purposes,  Iree.  ^  1 

E. 

/ ,     \  Pr/.i.  12^  per  cent. 

Earths,  Clays  and  Ochres,  (dry,) .....  Fr^^e-  ^  J^^ 

Eggs, Y.V.!  Free.  12^  per  cent. 

Emery, -p  isV  per  cent. 

Emory  Gl».  and  Sand  Taper Free  ^^  ^^^^       ^^^^^ 

Engravings  and  Prmts, ^ 

r. 

T  -.«  2i-  per  cent. 
Felt  Hat  Bodies  and  Hat  Felt,. . .....  Free. 

Firebrick,  (not  moulded  into  artifacial  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^^ 

or  fancy  shapes,) ^^J^  -pree. 

Firewood, ^o  per  cent.  l|c-  per  lb. 

Figs, *.V.  20  per  cent.  Ifc  per  lb. 

Filberts, ^  ^  ^^^^  Free. 

Fish, •  •  •  Y  •  * ' '  *    p     '  12^  per  cent. 

Fish  Oil,  in  its  crude  or  natural  state, .   t  r.e.  ^-^  ^^^  ^^^^ 

Fishing  Nets  and  Seines,  ......•••••          '  -        ^^^^ 

Fish  nooks,  Lines  and  Fish  Twmes,..  F^  •  ^^ij 

Flax,  Hemp,  Tow,  undressed •   ^^^^-  ^^^^ 

Flour pj.gg  Free. 

Fruits,  green ^o  percent.  Ifc.  per  lb. 

Fruits,  dried, 


4 


60 

1863. 

Fruits,  dried,  the  growth  of  the  United 
States  only,  while  the  Reciprocity 
Trnaty  is  in  force, Free. 

Furs,  Seins,  Pelts,  or  Tails,  undressed, 
when  imported  directly  from  the 
United  Kingdom  or  British  North 
American  Provinces,  or  from  the 
.  United  States,  while  the  Reciprocity 
Treaty  is  in  force, Free. 

G. 

Galvanized  Iron,  ..•,. 10  per  cent. 

Gems  and  Medals, Free. 

Gin, 100  per  cent. 

Ginger,  ground, 10  per  cent. 

Goldbeaters'  Briras,  Moulds  and  Skins,  Free. 
Grains — Barley,  Rye,  Beans  and  Peas, 

Bear  and  Bigg,  Bran  and   Shorts, 

Buckwheat,     Indian     Corn,     Oats, 

Wheat,  and  Meal  of  the  above  Grains,  Free. 

Gravels, Free. 

Grease  and  Scraps, Free. 

Grass,  Straw,  Tuscan,  (fancy  plaits,). ,    10  per  oeuu 
Grindstones,  wrought  or  unwrought, . .  Free. 
Gums  and  Rosin,  in  a  crude  state,. . . .   Free. 

Gums,  Shellac, 20  per  cent. 

Gums,  Opium, 20  per  cent. 

Gypsum,  or  Plaster  of  Paris,  ground  or 

unground,  but  not  calcined, Free. 

Gilling  Twine,  imported    for    fishing 

purposes  only, Free. 

H. 

Harness  and  Saddlery,  of  leather  manu- 
facture,   25  per  cent. 

Hams, Free. 

Hair,  Angola,  Goat,  Thibet,  Horse,  or 
Mohair,  unmanufactured, Free. 


1864. 


Free. 


Free. 


2J  per  cent. 
Free. 
50c.  per  gal. 

5c.  per  lb. 
1 2^  per  cent. 


Free. 
Free. 
Free. 

12^  per  cent. 
Free. 
Free. 
21-  per  cent. 
12iV  per  cent. 

Free. 

2J  per  cent. 


12^  per  cent. 
12^  per  cent. 

12^  per  cent. 


61 

1863.  18B4. 

„     ^  Free.  Free. 

^^"'P' Free  Free. 

5^'" :;;;;;;*.  Free.  Free. 

Horns, 

X. 

.    .  Free.  Free. 

Indigo, ;••• 

Inventions  and  Improvements  in  the 

Arts,  Models,  or  Patterns  of,  provided 

that  no  article  shall  be  deemed  a 

model  ^hich  can  be  fitted  up  for  use.  Free.  1  rce. 

T  .  Free.  Free. 

Iron,  picf, .       -n 

Iron  Tubes  and  Piping,  when  drawn, .   10  per  cent.      Free. 

Iron— Kod,  Bar,  or  Hoop ;  Nail  and 
Spike  Rod;  Hoop  or  Tire,  for  driv- 
ing wheels  of  locomotives,  bent  and 
welded;  Boiler  Plates,  unpunchcd  or     , 

punched ;  Rail-Road  Bars;  Wrought 

Iron   Chairs    and    Spikes;     Rolled  oir^^rrent 

Plates;  Wire, 1°  P^'^  ^^'^*-        ^ipercent. 

Jewelr,  and  Watches, ' ' '   ^^J"  ^^^      ^e'"  "" 

Junk  and  Oakum, *^^'^- 

K. 

Kerosene  Oil,  Coal  Oil,  Petroleum  Oil, 

distilled,  purified,  or  refined, . .  10c.  per  wme  gal.      12^  per  cent. 

L. 

Free.  Free. 

Lard,  ••••••• •  *  •  •"    ^0  cent.       Free. 

Lead  in  sheets, ^   ^^  ^  ^^^^^       ^^^  p^^  ^^^^, 

Lead,  white   dry, i      ^^^^^  ^^^t. 

Lead,  red,  dry, ^ 

Leather  manufactures   viz    Boots  and  ^^^^ 

Shoes,  Harness  and  Saddlery, 2a  per  cent.       i^f  f 


62 


m 


1863. 

Locomotives  and  Engine  Frames, 
Cranks,  Crank  Axles,  Railway  Car 
and  Locomotive  Axles,  Piston  Rods, 
Guide  and  Slide  Bars,  Crank  Pins, 
Connection  Rods,  Steamboat  and 
Mill  Shafts,  and  Cranks  forged  in  the 
rough, 10  per  cent. 

Litharge, 10  per  cent. 

Lime,  the  produce  of  British  North 
America  only, Free. 


1864. 


2  J^  per  cent. 
12J[^  per  cent. 

Free. 


M. 


V; 

i 


Mace,  .      

Manilla  Grass, 

Manures,  of  all  kinds, 

Maps,  Charts  and  Atlases, 

Manufactures  of  Leather,  viz.,  Boots 
and  Shoes,  Harness  and  Saddlery,. . 

Marble,  in  blocks  or  slabs,  unpolished, 

Meats,  fresh,  smoked  and  salt, 

;Mcal,  buckwheat, 

Medals, 

Medicinal  Roots, 

Medicines,  patent,  and  medicinal  pre- 
parations not  elsewhere  specified,. .. 

Menageries,  horses,  cattle,  carriages, 
and  harness  of;  suliject  to  regula- 
tions by  the  Governor  in   Council, 

Molasses, 5c.  per  j^allon,  and 

Mosses  and  Sea  Grass,  for  upholstery 
purposes, 

Machinery  for  the  manufacture  of 
Doors,  Window  Sash  Blinds,  and 
other  wood-work  for  building  pur- 
poses,   

Musical  Instruments,  for  military  bands. 


30  per  cent. 

12jc.  perlb. 

Free. 

Free. 

Free. 

Free. 

10  per  cent. 

Free. 

25  per  cent. 

12J^  per  cent. 

Free, 

Free. 

Free. 

Free. 

Free. 

Free. 

Free. 

Free. 

10  per  cent. 

12^  per  cent. 

30  per  cent. 

12J^  per  cent. 

Free. 

Free. 

10  per  cent. 

3c.  per  gal. 

Free. 


20  per  cent. 
Free. 


> 


2^  per  cent. 
Free. 


63 

*•             1863.  1884. 

Free  2^  per  cent. 

Nitre,  or  Saltpetre, •   ^^     _^  ^^^^^  g^,,  ^^r  lb. 

Nuts,  of  all  kinds, ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  j^ic.  per  lb. 

Nutmegs, • •  •  •           p  Yicc. 

Natural  History,  specimens  of, 

o. 

. . .  Free.  IH  P"  cent. 

Oalcum, ,*  "  •*  \i   • 

Oil«,  cocoa  nut,  pine  and  V^^^^-J^^'  r.^e. 

crude,  or  rectified,  or  natural  state, .  1  ce-  ^  ^  ^^^  ^^^^^ 

Oil  Cake,  or  Linseed  Cake, ^^^^'  ^^^^^ 

Ordnance  Stores, ^^^^^'  ^^^^^ 

Ores  of  all  kinds  of  metals, ..........          •  ^^^^^ 

Osier,orWillow,forbasket-makers'use,  Free.  1 1 

30  per  cent.  12^  per  cent. 

Patent  Medicines, ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^gj-  per  cent. 

Pepper,  ground, y   ^^  ^^^  ^^^^_  ^l  per  cent. 

Phosphorus, 30  per  cent.  12A-  per  cent. 

Pimento,  ground, • .  •  •  •  ••••••■   '                 ^^^  p^ee. 

Plaster  of  Paris,  ground  and  calcined,  10  per  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^ 

Porter, * ! "  V,* v^op  Free. 

Pig  Iron,  Pi.  Lead,  and  F.g  Copper,. .  F™.  ^^^^ 

Pitch  and  Tar, 

Philosophical  Instruments  and  Appa-  ^^^^^  ^^^^^ 

ratus  Globes, ^,^^^*  Yvoq. 

Plants,  Shrubs  and  Trees, ^^  _  ^^^^^  o|  per  cent. 

Prussiate  of  Potash, •  • -     »  ^^^^^ 

Printing  Ink  and  Printing  Presses,. . .   1  ree. 

Provisions  for  Army,  or  Navy,  or  In-  ^^^^  ^^^^_ 

dian  nations, ^^  _  ^^^^^  ^  per  cent. 

Printing  Paper, 

R. 

...  Free.  Free. 

^^S^,'--"' 10  per  cent.        2^  per  cent. 

Rail-Road  Bars, ^^         ^^^^_       ^5^  p^,  cent. 

Red  Lead,  dry, ^ 


ft 


64 

1863.  1854. 

Resin  and  Rosin, Free.  Free. 

Rice,  including  Rico  Flour, Free.  Free. 

Rum, 100  per  cent.  35c.  per  gal. 


S. 


^- 


Sails,  ready  made 10  per  cent. 

Sago  Flour, Free. 

Sail  Cloth,  Nos.  1  to  6, Free. 

Sal  Soda, Free. 

Sal  Ammoniac, Free. 

Salt, Free. 

Seeds,  for  agricultural,  horticultural,  or 

manufacturing  purposes  only, Free, 

Ships'  Blocks, Free. 

Ships'  Water  Casks,  in  use, Free. 

Shackles, Free. 

Sheaves, Free. 

Shellac, 20  per  cent. 

Signal  Lamps, Free. 

Silk  Hat  Felts, Free. 

Silk  Twist,  for  hats,  boots  and  shoes,..  10  per  cent. 

Slate  from  United  States, Free. 

Snuff, 30  per  cent. 

Soda  Ash, Free. 

Soap, 30  per  cent. 

Spelter,  or  Zinc,  in  sheets, 10  per  cent. 

Spelter,  in  block  or  pig, Free. 

Specimens  of  Natural  History,  Mineral- 
ogy or  Botany, . , Free. 

Spices,  ground, 30  per  cent. 

Spirits  and  Strong  Waters,  including 
Spirits  of  Wine  and  Alcohol,  not 

being  Whiskey, 100  per  cent. 

Spirits  of  Turpentine, 10  per  cent. 

Starch, 30  per  cent. 


2^  per  cent. 
12^  per  cent. 
Free. 
12^  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 
Free. 

Free. 

24-  per  cent. 
Free. 

2^  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 
12^  per  cent. 
12^-  per  cent. 
12|^  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 

7c.  per  lb. 
Free. 
]  2^  per  cent. 

2^  per  cent. 

2-k  per  cent. 

Free. 

5c.  per  lb. 


50c.  per  gal. 

Free, 

12^  per  cent. 


■^'i'Kd'M,  ;•.;*•'».,»«» 


MMH 


( 


65 

1863. 

Statues,  Busts,  and  cast^  of  vnnrblo, 
lirnnzc,  alabaster,  or  plaster  of  Paris  ; 
Paintings  and  Drawings,  as  works  of 
art ;  Specimons  of  Sculpture  ;  Cabi- 
net of  Coins  ;  Medals,  Gems,  and  all 
Collections  of  Antiquities, Fi'co. 

Steel,  wrought  or  cast, 10  per  cent. 

Stereotype  Blocks,   for  printing  pur- 
poses,   •  •  •  •  1'  '**^°* 

Stone,  unwrouglit, ^''cc 

Straw,  Tuscan,  Urass,  and  Fancy  Plaits,  10  per  cent. 

Sugar,  refined, 3c.  per  lb.,  and  15  per  cent. 

Ditto,  raw, 2c.  per  lb.,  and  10  per  cent. 

Sulphur,  or  Brimstone, I'rcc. 

Tallow, l'^''cc- 

Tcf; Ic.  per  lb.,  and  15  per  cent. 

Tampico, Free. 

Teasels, Free. 

Tiles,  drain,  for  agricultural  purposes,.   Free. 

Timber  and  Lumber  of  all  kinds, 
round,  hewed,  sawed,  unmanufac- 
tured, in  whole  or  in  part, Free. 

Tin,  granulated  or  bar, 10  per  cent. 

Tin  and  Zinc,  or  Spelter,  in  blocks  or 

pigs, ^  *'^*^* 

Tinned  Plates 10  per  cent. 

Tobacco,    manufactured,    other    than 

Cigars, 30  percent. 

Tobacco,  unmanufiictured, - . .  •  •  Free. 

Tow,  undressed, Free. 

Travelling  Trucks, Free. 

Trenails, ^'I'^c 

Tubes  and  Piping,  of  copper,  brass  or 

iron,  when  drawn, 10  per  cent. 

Turpentine,  spirits  of, y  10  pcr  cent. 

0 


1854. 


Free. 

2.V  per  coi.'t. 

Free. 
Free. 

1-J,V  per  cent. 
!S2.-10  p.  fwt. 
§1.30  p.  cwt. 
Free. 


Free. 

3c.  pcr  lb. 
12i-  per  cent. 
Free. 
2.^  per  cent. 


Free. 

2^  per  cent. 

2 A-  per  cent. 
12.V  per  cent. 

l|c.  per  lb. 

l|c.  per  lb. 

Free. 

12|-  per  cent. 

Free. 

12^  per  cent. 
Free. 


66 

1863. 

Turpentine,  other  than  spirits  of  tur- 
pentine, . , Free. 

Type  Metal,  in  blocKS  or  pigs, Free. 

V. 

Varnish,  bright  and  black,  for  ship- 
builders, other  than  copal,  carriage, 
shellac,  mastic  or  japan, Free. 

Vitriol 20  per  cent. 

Vegetables,  not  elsewhere  specified,. .  Free. 

Vehicles  of  Travellers,  except  those  of 
hawkers  or  pedlars, Free. 

Vinegar, 20  per  cent. 

w. 

Walnuts, 20  per  cent. 

Water  Lime,  unground, Free. 

Wearing  Apparel  and  Clothing,  made 

by  hand  and  sewing-machine, 25  percent. 

Wine,  of  all  kinds,  in  wood, 20  per  cent. 

Ditto,  in  quarts, 20  per  cent. 

Ditto,  in  pints, 20  per  cent. 

Wine,  Spirits,   and  fermented  liquors 

of  all  kinds,  imported  for  Ofiicers' 

Mess,  and  the  packages  containing 

the  same, Free. 

Whiskey,  proof, , .  25c.  per  gal. 

Wire,  iron, 10  per  cent. 

Wood  for  Hoops,  wb^m  not  notched, . .  Free. 

Woods,  of  all  kinds, Free. 

Wool, Free. 

z. 

Zinc,  in  sheets, 10  per  cent. 


1854. 


Free. 
Free. 


Free. 

2^  per  cent. 
Free. 

Free. 

6c.  per  gal. 


l§c.  per  lb. 
Free, 

12^-  per  cent. 
20c.  per  gal. 
$1.50  p.  doz. 
75c.  per  doz. 


Free. 

8c.  per  gal. 
2|-  per  cent. 
12^  per  cent. 
Free. 
Free. 


2^  per  cent. 


% 


67 


CANADIAN  CUSTOMS'  ACT. 


bt. 


nt. 

il. 

oz. 

)Z. 


t. 


An  Act  further  to  amend  the  Act  respecting  Duties  of  Customs  and 
the  Collection  there-f,  and  to  alter  the  Duties  on  certain  goods. 
[Assented  to  30/^  June,  1864.] 

In  amendment  of  chapter  seventeen  of  the  Consolidated  Statutes 
of  Canada,  entitled  "  An  Act  respecting  Duties  of  Customs,  and  the 
Collection  thereof,"  Iler  Majesty,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Legislative  Council  and  Assembly  of  Canada,  enacts  as  follows  : 

1.  In  addition  to  the  ad  valorem  duties  of  customs  payable  thereon, 
under  any  act  now  in  force,  there  shall  be  imposed,  levied  and  col- 
lected on  gin,  rum,  cordials,  spirits  of  wine  and  alcohol,  not  being 
whiskey  or  brandy,  a  specific  duty  of  customs  of  fifteen  cents  for  every 
gallon  wine  measure  thereof,  of  the  strength  of  proof  by  Sykes'  hy- 
drometer, and  so  in  proportion  for  any  greater  strength  or  any  less 
quantity  than  a  gallon. 

2.  In  addition  to  *ho  specific  duty  of  customs  payable  thereon, 
under  any  act  now  in  force,  there  shall  be  imposed,  levied  and  col- 
lected on  whiskey,  a  further  specific  duty  of  customs  of  fifteen  cents 
for  every  gallon  wine  measure  thereof,  of  the  strength  of  proof  by 
Syiics'  hydrometer,  and  so  in  proportion  for  any  greater  strength  or 
any  less  quantity  than  a  gallon. 

3.  In  addition  to  the  ad  valorem  duty  o"  customs  payable  thereon, 
under  any  act  now  in  force,  there  shall  be  imposed,  levied  and  col- 
lected on  brandy,  a  specific  duty  of  customs  of  fifteen  cents  for  every 
gallon  wine  measure  thereof,  of  the  strength  of  proof  by  Sykes'  hy- 
drometer, and  so  in  proportion  for  any  greater  strength  or  any  less 
quantity  than  a  gallon. 

4.  The  duties  imposed  by  the  foregoing  sections  shall  be  held  to 
have  come  into  force  on  the  11th  day  of  May,  in  the  present  year, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-four,  and  shall  be,  and  shall 
be  held  to  have  been  payable  on  all  such  goods  as  aforesaid  im- 
ported into  this  province,  or  taken  out  of  warehouse  for  consump- 
tion therein,  upon  or  after  the  said  day. 

5.  In  addition  to  the  ad  valorem  duty  of  customs  payable  thereon* 
under  any  act  now  in  force,  there  shall  be  imposed,  levied  and  col- 


i'l 


' 


68 

lected  on  the  several  descriptions  of  manufactured  tobacco  Lereiuaf- 
ter  mentioned,  the  specific  duties  of  customs  following,  that  is  to  say : 

$      cU- 

On  cavendish,  plug,  twist  and  all  descriptions  of  manufactured 
tobacco,  sweetened  or  not  sweetened,  except  those  hereinaf- 
ter specially  mentioned  and  otherwise  charged  with  duty, 
for  every  pound, 0  10 

On  common  cut  smoking  tobacco  [iahac  /rise)  made  from  un- 
prcsscd  tobacco,  whether  from  the  leaf  and  stems  together  or 
exclusively  from  stems ;  and  on  shorts  or  other  refuse  sepa- 
rated from  fine  cut  tobacco  in  the  process  of  manufacture, 
for  every  pound, 0  05 

On  sinift"  and  snuff  flour,  manufactured  from  tobacco  ground 

dry,  for  every  pound, 0  10 

C)n  tobacco,  fine  cut,  manufactured  to  be  sold  or  delivered 
loose,  in  bulk  or  in  packages,  papers,  wrappers  or  boxes, 
for  every  pound, 0  16 

C»n  Canadian  twist,  otherwise  called  Tabac  blanc  en  torquette, 

being  the  unpressed  leaf  rolled  and  twisted,  for  every  pound,     0  02 

On  every  pound  of  snuff,  damp,  moist  or  pickled, COS 

On  cigars,  per  1,000,  according  to  the  value  thereof,  as  here- 
under, viz. : 

Value  not  over  $10  per  1,000, 2  00 

"      over  SlO  and  not  over  $20, 3  00 

"         »    $20,  «*  $40 4  00 

"        «'    $40, 6  00 

And  the  said  duties  shall  be  held  to  have  come  into  force  on  the 
lirst  day  of  June  of  the  present  year,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-four,  and  shall  be,  and  shall  be  held  to  have  been  payable  on  all 
:^uch  goods  as  aforesaid,  imported  into  this  province  or  taken  out  of 
warehouse  for  consumption  therein,  upon  or  after  the  said  day. 

C.  Every  package  or  parcel  of  raw  or  manufactured  tobacco  of 
cigars  or  snuff,  imported  or  brought  into  this  province  after  the  pass- 
ing of  this  act,  whether  entered  at  the  Custom-IIouse  for  warehouse 
or  for  consumption,  shall  have  attached  thereto,  by  the  proper  oflicer 
of  customs,  such  stamp  as  may  be  directed  by  regulation  established 
by  the  Minister  of  Finance. 

T.  The  following  articles,  heretofore  classed  as  cordials,  and  charge- 


I    i: 


af- 


[0 


69 

able  as  such  with  the  duties  of  customs  imposed  on  cordials,  that  is 
to  say :  ginger  wine,  orange  wine,  lemon  wine,  gooseberry  Avine^ 
strawberry  wine,  raspberry  wine,  elder  wine  and  currant  wine,  shall, 
after  the  passing  of  this  act,  cease  to  be  rated  and  chargeable  with 
duty  as  cordials,  and  shall  be  rated  and  chargeable  with  an  ad  va- 
lorem duty  of  20  per  cent,  as  unenumerated  articles. 

8.  In  addition  to  the  duties  of  customs  now  payable  on  the  follow- 
ing articles,  there  shall  be  imposed,  levied  and  collected  thereon  the 
following  specific  duties  of  customs,  that  is  to  say : 

On  vinegar, 4  cents  per  gallon. 

On  refined  petroleum, 5     "  " 

On  naphtha, 5     "  " 

9.  The  present  ad  valorem  duties  of  customs  upon  the  following 
articles  are  hereby  repealed,  and  the  following  specific  duties  of  cus- 
toms shall  be  imposed,  levied  and  collected  thereon,  that  is  to  say : 

On  benzoic, 15  cents  per  gallon. 

On  crude  petroleum, 3     "  *' 

10.  Section  eighteen  of  chapter  thirty-one  of  the  Consolidated 
Statutes  of  Canada,  entitled  "An  Act  respecting  the  Provincial  Post- 
Ofiice,"  is  hereby  repealed. 

11.  This  act  shall  be  construed  as  one  act  with  the  act  herein  first 
above  cited  and  hereby  amended ;  all  the  provisions  whereof,  and  of 
the  acts  amending  it  now  in  force,  shall  apply  to  the  duties  imposed 
bv  this  act. 


I 


I  ■ 


70 


IMPORTS    AND   EXPORTS. 

Statement  of  the  Trade  between  the  United  States  and  specified  distant 
Foreign  Countries,  contrasted  with  that  between  the  United  States  and 
Canada^  in  the  year  ending  June  50th,  1861. 

ExporUfrom  Imports  into  Total. 

Countries.  United  States.  United  States.  Exchange. 

Holland, $3,719,373  ..  |2,811,334  ..  $6,530,707 

Spain, 1,841,025  ..  3,259,361  ..  5,100,386 

Portugal, 283,866  ..  176,163  ..  460,019 

Austria 308,527  ..  488,677  ..  '797,194 

Turkey, 604,240  . .  799,800  . .  1,404,040 

China, 6,917,427  ..  11,351,719  ..  18,269,146 

Central  America, 8V,461  ..  310,769  ..  398,230 

New-Granada, 1,586,992  ..  4,455,234  ,.  6,042,226 

Venezuela," 1,220,786  ..  2,999,949  ..  4,220,735 

Brazil, 5,0£'3,217  ..  18,100,456  ..  23,125,673 

Buenos  Ayrcs, 1,166,625  ..  3,200,836  ..  4,367,461 

Hamburg,... 4,536,203  ..  7,271,473  ..  11,807,076 

Bremen, 8,055,454  ..  8,070,516  ..  16,125,970 

Italy  and  Sicily, 2,088,471  ..  3,618,603..  6,707,704 

Russia, 841,848..  1,293,064..  2,135,512 

Prussia, 15,112  ..  27,879  ..  42,991 

Sweden  and  Norwaj', .. .  96,947  ..  645,241  ..  742,188 

Denmark, 10,478  ..  6,441  ..  16,919 

Total, $38,404,052       $68,888,106     $107,292,157 

Canada, 14,361,858   ..   18,645,457   ..    33,007,315 

OtherBritishPossessions)     3g^.5   ^^     4,417,476   ..   12,801,231 
in  North  America,       J 

TotalBritishN. America, $22,745,613   ..$23,062,933   ..$45,808,546 

Thus  showing  that  with  eighteen  foreign  countries  we  maintain 
expensive  diplomatic  relations  and  establishments,  where  the  com- 
merce thus  protected  and  maintained  is  actually  decreasing,  and  is 
less  than  that  of  Canada  and  the  other  British  North  American  Pos- 
sessions, where  we  have  no  such  expense  at  all. 


I 


71 


PRINCIPAL  TREATIES   AND   CONVENTIONS  RELATING 
TO  COLONIAL  TRADE. 

1782.  By  the  Sd  Article  of  the  treaty  of  1/82,  to  tate  effect  after 
the  conclusion  of  a  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  the  right 
is  given  to  take  fish  unmolested  of  every  kind  in  the  Grand  Gulf,  on 
the  banks  of  Newfoundland  and  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  all 
other  places  where  the  inhabitants  used  to  take  fish.  The  drying 
and  securing  of  the  same  being  permitted  only  in  the  unsettled 
places,  and  when  these  were  settled,  then  these  privileges  were  to  bo 
enjoyed  only  by  agreement  with  the  inhabitants. 

1794.  This  treaty  of  amity,  commerce  and  navigation  did  not 
allude  to  the  fisheries,  but  regulated  the  trade  with  the  West  Indies, 
limiting  it  to  American  vessels  of  seventy  tons  burthen,  and  authoriz- 
ing these  to  carry  products  of  the  United  States  to^the  Islands,  and 
bring  back  their  products ;  not  permitting,  however,  their  molasses, 
sugar,  coffee,  cocoa,  to  any  part  of  the  world  except  to  the  ports  of 
the  United  States. 

The  treaty  was  limited  to  a  term  of  twenty  years. 

The  3d  article,  however,  had  a  proviso,  permitting  commercial  in. 
tercourse  between  British  subjects  and  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
to  navigate  all  the  lakes,  rivers  and  waters  of  the  respective  territo- 
ries, either  side  of  the  boundary  line,  and  freely  to  carry  on  trade 
and  commerce  with  each  other.  It  was  declared  that  the  article  did 
not  extend  to  the  admission  of  vessels  of  the  United  States  into  the 
seaports,  harbors,  bays  or  creeks  and  rivers  between  the  mouths 
thereof  and  the  highest  port  of  entry  from  the  sea,  except  in  small 
vessels,  trading  6ona /c?f,  between  Quebec  and  Montreal,  nor  to  the 
admission  of  British  vessels  into  the  rivers  of  the  United  States, 
above  the  highest  ports  of  entry  from  the  sea. 

1915.  The  Convention  of  1815,  while  it  established  reciprocal 
commerce  between  the  British  possessions  in  Europe  and  the  United 
States,  by  the  2d  article  declared  that  the  intercourse  between  the 
United  States  and  the  West  Indies  and  tbe  British  American  Colonies 
should  not  bo  affected  by  any  of  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  or 
convention. 


72 


t  \ 


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ill 


n  t 


1818.  The  celebrated  Convention  negotiated  this  year  by  Messrs 
Gallatin  and  Rush,  by  tho  first  article  defined  the  linaits  of  the 
fishing  privilege,  and  while  it  still  permitted  to  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  to  dry  and  cure  their  fish  on  the  unsettled  shores  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  fishing  grounds,  contained  a  renunciation 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  "to  take,  dry  or  cure  fish  on  or 
within  three  marine  miles  of  any  of  the  coasts."  The  interpretation 
of  this  paragraph  afterwards  led  to  a  serious  and  unpleasant  contro- 
versy. 

1827.  The  Commercial  Convention  of  this  year  renewed  the 
treaty  of  1815,  indefinitely,  with  tho  right  of  termination  by  twelve 
months'  notice,  from  October  28. 


1830.    Convention  opened  the  trade.     Mr,  Laxe's  arrangement. 


1842.  The  treaty  of  this  year  opened  the  navigation  of  the  River 
St.  John  to  the  United  States,  and  certain  channels  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, Detroit  and  St.  Clair  rivers  to  both  parties. 


1854.    Reciprocity  Treaty. 


\ 


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